KANSAS CITY, Mo. — This Christmas feels a little dimmer for a one-and-a-half-year-old and an 8-year-old whose mother was killed just before Thanksgiving. But one group hopes to make things just a little brighter.
Amanda Tripp was killed in a car wreck the day before Thanksgiving.
Her coworker Tasha Milles described her as having a bright personality.
"She was full of love and life, and she was a firecracker," Milles said.
Tripp leaves behind two children.
"These kids had been through so much. The child never had the opportunity to meet her father," Milles said. "He was killed by a drive-by shooting in Kansas City months before."
The holidays can be a dark time for families who've lost loved ones, but the Kansas City Divas, a group of women looking for ways to give back to the community, want to bring a little light.
"And all you want is the kids to be happy. Christmas is a time of loving and giving," Milles said.
When fellow Diva Verma Brown found out about the loss, she kicked into action.
"We just said this is what we want to do, Brown said. "We adopted them, and we went out shopping and got the things that they wanted for Christmas."
Giving the gifts to the kids ahead of Christmas Eve was emotional.
The victim's sister wrote a message of thanks to the community.
"They're in the worst time in their lives, and love and support means so much to us. Nothing can replace their mother," Cayla Chavez said. "It takes a village to raise children, and the community coming together has shown that they are in support of my sister and her children."
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