When 9-year-old Abby Bacho passed away on Christmas day, her parents knew they needed to do something to honor her short but amazing life.
On Dec. 22, 2012, the family was involved in a tragic car accident at the hands of a distracted teen driver. Abby died shortly after in a hospital. Her parents, Natalie and Stephen Bacho, decided to start the Abby’s Angels Foundation to help the community - their way of carrying on their daughter’s legacy.
“When I had that time with her before we learned that she wouldn’t survive, I just had that feeling with her that we had to do something,” said Natalie Bacho. “I wasn’t sure what shape it would take, but just this overwhelming feeling that we had to do something to continue her life.”
The foundation, founded in August 2013, operates a program called Abby’s Closet that provides free school supplies for students from pre-K to 12th grade, primarily in Coweta County schools, whose families are unable to afford the items themselves.
“After talking to some of the teachers and counselors at some of the schools, we learned how difficult it is for some families to be able to afford even the most basic of school supplies,” said Bacho.
Closets are available throughout the entire school year and the foundation’s only requirement is that students who need assistance are never made to feel outcast or needy.
“We thought of how much she loved to shop and she loved girly frilly things, and we remembered how much she loved to shop for school supplies at the start of the new school year,” said Bacho. “She loved to play school and she would create a classroom in her bedroom and it was something that she always pretended to play.”
Every April since 2014, the foundation has held a Rainbow Run & Family Fun Day as a fundraiser for the work it does. April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month and Organ Donation Month. Abby was an organ donor.
“It’s a color run because Abby wanted to do a color run and never got the chance,” said Bacho.