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Houston County family is keeping their son's memory alive with 'Grady's Bags'

Kelli and Michael Hayes donate full backpacks to schools in Houston County in his honor

HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — Kelli Hayes and her husband Michael lost their son, Grady, four years ago. He was born with Potter's Syndrome and had only been alive for about an hour.

"It was a blessing he even lived for 69 minutes for us to hold him, love him and our family to see him and spend time with him," Kelli said.

Kelli and Michael, along with their four other children, do not want Grady to be forgotten, so they decided to help children in need in their son's honor.

They call it 'Grady's Bags.'

Kelli and Michael started out packing a few backpacks with school supplies to donate to Bonaire Elementary School, where Grady would've started pre-k this year. 

"The more I thought about it, I just felt this tugging to do more," Kelli said.

They decided to expand their donations to the entire county and they say they need your help.

You can contribute to Grady's Bags by taking a backpack filled with supplies to Lowe Toyota until July 31.

Backpacks can be filled with crayons, Elmer's glue, baby wipes, hand sanitizer, facial tissues, disinfectant wipes and a nap-time blanket or large towel. 

If you can not fill a backpack, Kelli said they are taking donations on their PayPal account to fill one for you.

Kelli said the couple came up with the idea and posted it on Facebook a few days ago and she has been blown away by the response.

"I'm just hoping we can make a difference in his name and keep his name alive," Kelli said. "That's been a big thing for me since he passed away and I'm hoping that other children can be blessed through this."

Kelli said she has already had people reach out to ask how they can help. They are making tags with logos on them and t-shirts. 

They have gotten responses from people as far as Atlanta who want to help out.

Kelli said they want to make Grady's Bags an annual tradition, but she is not planning on stopping with just a school drive. She wants to make this as big as possible, whether it is packing bags for Christmas or giving out bags full of food.

"I want every year for it to get bigger and bigger," she said.

To get in touch with Kelli and Michael to find out more, you can contact them at Gradysbags@gmail.com.

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