KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KC Mothers in Charge is providing gifts this holiday season to 22 children and 10 families who lost a loved one to violence in 2024.
"Holidays come and we miss our children, we miss our loved ones," KC Mothers in Charge founder Rosilyn Temple said.
Temple lost her 26-year-old son Antonio to gun violence 13 years ago. His murder remains unsolved.
"You don't get over it," she said. "You learn to get up and to survive every day."
Temple knows the void Samantha Freeman is feeling this holiday season. Freeman's 11-year-old daughter Kourtney was shot and killed while inside her home in April.
"I think of her, talk to her every day," Freeman said. "She keeps me going."
The Freeman family was one of KC Mother in Charge's gift recipients this year.
"Sometimes people want to give up and they can't go on, and some people are there to just give you that extra boost to keep going," Freeman said about KC Mothers in Charge.
Rashawnda Perry-Townsend lost her 23-year-old son, Xavier, to gun violence in May. She called him her gentle giant.
"Xavier would give you the shirt off his back," Perry-Townsend said.
It's the spirit of giving back that Temple embodies this time of year.
"We had one mom just crying and she said this just helps her out so much," Temple said.
2023 was Kansas City's deadliest year on record with 182 homicides. As of Saturday, there have been 139 homicides in 2024.
"It means a lot because one life was saved," Temple said.
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KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.