For children navigating the devastating grief of losing a father to homicide, the Easter holiday can feel like an empty, painful reminder of what they have lost. This year, however, a community-driven collaboration between a local entrepreneur and a support organization turned that emptiness into a tangible expression of care, delivering hand-prepared Easter baskets to 30 grieving families to lift their spirits.
The project grew from personal heartache turned purpose. Back in September 2023, Shantavia Cooper-Rolle’s twin daughters faced an unimaginable upheaval as they prepared to start their final year of high school: their father was killed in a murder. The tragedy plunged the teenagers into a dark period of grief, but with consistent support from their family, they slowly found a way to move forward. Today, both young women attend college on multiple academic scholarships, a testament to their resilience.
Drawing from her own family’s experience, Cooper-Rolle, who owns the small gift and snack business 2S Snacks & More, felt called to give back to other families walking this same path this Easter. She partnered with Families of All Murder Victims (FOAM), a grassroots organization led by president Khandi Gibson that supports people impacted by homicide, to curate and distribute 30 special Easter baskets for children who lost their fathers to murder.
As Cooper-Rolle delivered the baskets to homes across the community, she was met with tears of gratitude and shared vulnerability. Many of the single mothers receiving the gifts asked her how she had managed to cope after her own daughters’ loss. In response, Cooper-Rolle offered gentle, honest perspective that rejected the idea that grief can be fully “overcome.” She encouraged the mothers to take advantage of school counseling services for their children, and to extend grace to themselves as they navigate each day. “It’s nothing to be overcome. You learn every day. It’s something you take with you. It’s not something that’s going to go away,” she explained. “We just have to learn how to deal with this, hopefully, try to remember the memories.”
One moment in particular stuck with Cooper-Rolle: when a young child was brought outside to receive her basket, her face lit up with unfiltered excitement. “That filled my heart,” Cooper-Rolle said of the interaction.
For Gibson and the FOAM organization, moments like that highlight why small, intentional gestures of care matter so much, especially during holidays when families traditionally gather. Gibson noted that childhood is shaped by small, joyful holiday traditions, and no child should be left out of that joy because of tragedy. “I thought it was very important because, you know, children look up to their fathers and their mothers. Everybody expect Christmas baskets, especially if you’re a child, that’s what we grew up on,” Gibson said. Through initiatives like this Easter basket drive, FOAM aims to remind every grieving child that they are seen, loved, and appreciated, even in the middle of overwhelming pain.