It doesn't always take a long time to make a difference. Markus Slack, who died from cancer of the central nervous system before his sixth birthday, knew that.

"When we went to Egleston Hospital for his chemo, Markus liked to go to the rooms where kids didn't have parents with them," said his mother, Kimberly Slack, a licensed practical nurse with Kaiser Permanente. "He'd take his Matchbox cars and Transformers toys to play with them and talk to them. Once, when he got a new coloring book and crayons, he colored a page, asked me to tear it [out], and then gave it to a child down the hall.

Special (ENLARGE)

Before he died in 1997, at age 5, Markus Slack made a will and left his stuffed animals and toys to other children. The Have a Heart drive collects toys for patients at Egleston and Scottish Rite hospitals.

"He was always thinking of ways to help others."

While Markus underwent chemotherapy and a bone-marrow transplant when he was 2½, his mother prayed that she would be given enough time to get to know her son and help prepare him for what lay ahead. Her prayers were answered, and Markus' cancer was in remission for 18 months before it recurred in May 1996.

Markus wanted to go to kindergarten, and his family enrolled him, but his health forced him to be home-schooled most of the time.

He also loved to fish at Elijah Clark State Park in Lincolnton.

"On his last trip to the lake, he caught a 5-pound pike [with] his Mickey Mouse fishing pole. His miracle fish hangs above our fireplace," Slack said. "Markus noticed everything, like when the trees were coming back to life. I still see the world's beauty through his eyes."

During his final months, Markus made a will and decided who would get favorite toys. Stuffed animals went to his two older brothers and other family members. He gave his favorite castle and his pirate ship to his kindergarten class and wanted the children at the hospital to have his riding dump truck.

"He told us not to forget the kids at the hospital, and we have always honored his wish," Slack said.

After Markus died on Feb. 9, 1997, his family took bags of candy and small toys to the children at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston on Valentine's Day. Thanks to friends and the Slacks' co-workers, the event has become the annual Have a Heart toy drive.

"The employees at Kaiser Perma-nente and my husband's office collect more toys [more than 1,000] than we could ever have imagined," Slack said. "We collect items for newborns to 18-year-olds and always seem to have just what we need."

For the last four years, the family has delivered toys to patients at Egleston and Scottish Rite hospitals for Valentine's Day. The overflow stocks toy closets at the hospitals.

"If it's a child's birthday or [a child is having] a tough time, [he or she] can pick a toy," Slack said. "It continues to humble me that so many others support this program — that they see the bins with Markus' photo and want to make a difference. We feel blessed and honored to be a part of it. I know my sons, Stephan [20] and Jason [26], will always want to do it."

Encouraging other children and parents is a way of turning a painful experience into something meaningful.

"Markus is physically not here, but his incredible spirit continues to inspire us," she said.

Six months after Markus died, Slack went back to school to become a pediatric nurse and then became an electronic medical records specialist.

"I know I'm helping patients by making sure the doctors and nurses have what they need to do their jobs," she said.