MENTOR, Ohio — It’s been 35 years since Rob Trhlin lost his sister, Donna.
In 1964, Donna was born with a serious, rare heart condition known as transposition of the great arteries.
“Simply put, her blood was flowing in reverse,” said Rob Trhlin.
Back then, the condition had a very high mortality rate. Donna underwent more than 10 surgeries in her lifetime and made headlines for surviving.
“She got the nickname ‘the miracle girl’ after surviving her surgery in 1973 because again, every operation, every procedure that she went through was an experiment,” said Rob. “It was to find a way to improve this condition.”
Rob is the youngest of four children. He was a senior in high school when Donna passed away at the age of 22 in 1986. It’s been a difficult road; anger and sadness has consumed him for years. However, a specific holiday cheers him up, and that’s Christmas.
“My father always made sure, my mother made sure that Christmas was special because, at the end of the year, it meant we were together one more year, and we had Donna one more year,” said Rob.
Donna absolutely loved Christmas, and so does her family. Rob has found a way to keep Donna’s spirit alive through the holiday she loved the most.
He launched Donna’s Christmas Trees in 2019. The nonprofit collects used artificial Christmas trees, ornaments, decorations of any kind and help bring back their Christmas magic.
“I saw an artificial Christmas tree laying in the rain in the mud on garbage day and I thought to myself somewhere, someone would love to have that Christmas tree,” said Rob. “Even the 22 years that Donna was alive, the love and support that we got from family and friends is, you know, part of trying to pay it forward. I've always been compelled to give back. And I always had the question of how to do it, and when I saw that Christmas tree laying in the garbage, it just hit me. It was one of those ‘aha’ moments.”
They host whimsical private parties and help families and facilities in the area such as domestic violence centers, homeless shelters and special needs schools like Re-Education Services in Mentor.
“It's about the experience in the event of allowing people to come into a safe environment to enjoy themselves, to step out of maybe a situation that has been extremely difficult for a long time and to feel the love and the compassion that Christmas should give all of us,” said Rob. “Everybody should be able to pick out their tree or their ornaments, their lights, their decorations and feel that spirit of Christmas and that renewed hope that as you're moving into a new year, things are going to be better.”
In just their third season of giving back, they’ve helped more than 300 families. Rob knows firsthand that bad things can happen to good people.
“And how do you help them make a change? How do you help them see that you can have renewed hope, you just got to keep working at it, you can't give up,” said Rob.
Donna’s love for Christmas has kept his spirits high and he hopes it does the same for others.
“One of the biggest parts of Donna's life and the reason we love Christmas is the way she lived,” said Rob. “It was her spirit of giving. She was loving, she was compassionate to everybody she came across.”
Donna’s Christmas Trees collects Christmas decorations year-round and is always in need of more volunteers. For more information you can visit here.