OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — "In 2019, my wife, Laura, and I lost a set of twins. Everett was stillborn and Jude we lost after three days. That was back in 2019. In 2020, we had Barrett," said Jeff Evans, co-owner of PizzaWest, in an interview with 3 News Now Anchor, Mary Nelson.
On Friday, Mary sat down with Evans to talk about how they've chosen to keep their children's memory alive.
Why did you want to do these boxes? How did that feel like the best way to honor your twins?
So, our twins' first birthday, we were kind of a mess and didn't know how to point ourselves in a positive direction. Then kind of took another year after that. So, when they were turning two last year, my wife had this idea and thought: 'Hey, we should do something positive.' And she's been a teacher for 13 years, so she's seen all walks of life and knows that some kids don't always get a birthday party and don't always have the option. So, we thought of this idea that we'd make these birthday kits and pass them out to the food pantries.
Tell me about the numbers from last year.
Last year, it was pretty much just our friends, family and co-workers and we had 85 or 90 birthday kits. But this year, it just looks like it's really taking off. It has just been unreal. Just overwhelming how many people have participated and shared the post. I think we're at 175 shares and then, it's been viewed by over 50,000 people now. It's just unreal.
How does that affect the donations you're already seeing?
Yea, we're already seeing... I think we've already got 10 kits worth over there and it's only been a day and a half since we posted it.
I'd love to see some of the items already in.
Absolutely. We've got ... frosting, some people have made entire kits already and just dropped those off. We've got banners, we've got birthday hats, just any and all things necessary to host a birthday party.
What do you and your wife say to each other about how this is evolving?
We have just been choked up for the last two days just seeing the overwhelming response from everybody. But just the fact that we have this to celebrate their memory and... it's just amazing for us.
The Evans will distribute birthday boxes filled with donated items to Ronald McDonald House Charities Omaha, Lydia House, Tri-City Food Pantry, Springfield Food Pantry, and Food Bank for the Heartland.
They will be collecting donations, now until the end of the month, from Pizza West locations in Omaha near 123rd and Maple and in La Vista near 120th and Giles.
For more information on how to help visit:facebook.com
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