GRIFFIN, Ga. — Funerals are underway in Uvalde, Texas following last week's elementary school shooting. A piece of Georgia will be there.
Crowds are gathering by the hundreds to pay their respects to the two teachers and 19 children who were murdered at Robb Elementary School on May 24. The caskets for the young children have each been customized and were shipped from Cherokee Child Casket Company in Griffin, Georgia.
The family-run business has been operating since 1941, with Michael Mims taking over in 2005. He said he heard about the tragedy on the radio and quickly turned his grief into action.
"Immediately, I text my son and told him 'all hands on deck tomorrow morning,' which would have been Wednesday," Mims explained.
He got in touch with Trey Ganem of Soulshine Industries, based in Edina, Texas to help coordinate customizations and transportations for each child's final resting place. Soulshine Industries is known for adding a personal touch to caskets and honoring lives with an artistic and respectful design.
Mims first met Ganem at a funeral director's trade meeting and said Ganem was reluctant to customize caskets for children, calling the task "too heartbreaking."
"After years of friendship, we've been sending him caskets for years," Mims said. "He's very artistic, very fine gentlemen," adding there was no better person to partner with to accomplish this devastating project.
The business owner said Ganem helped coordinate the details and Cherokee Child Casket Company was able to create 17 chests for some of the youngest victims of the school massacre.
RELATED: Falcons player trying to connect with Texas school shooting survivor who was wearing his jersey
Mims said he sent custom-made caskets to Texas. Most of them are white but he and his 25-year-old son also sent a red, blue and green casket and a few caskets with shades of color so Ganem can help them reflect the children that will lie in them.
"That is his sole purpose -- to take caskets like mine and make them a little bit more personable to that individual child," Mims said of Ganem's work. "We feel like our children deserve as nice (of) a casket, if not nicer, than our adults."
It's an idea he solidified after December 14, 2012, when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Mims said he provided some of the caskets then too.
RELATED: U.S. senator representing Sandy Hook responds to Uvalde elementary school shooting on Senate floor
"That one is coming up on 10 years," Mims said. "We shipped out caskets that weekend."
Mims said when the business first started around 81 years ago, more children died, adding the child death rate was much higher decades ago.
"Due to better health care, prenatal care, immunizations and safety issues, the child death rate has plummeted over the years -- which is a good thing," he said.
However, he added the need for his business is greater when there's a mass casualty event, and over the years there are fewer entrepreneurs in the business of burying children.
"I must say, my job is hard," he said. "But a funeral professional's job is harder than ours."
This time, the caskets won't arrive empty. Cherokee Child Casket Company also includes a flier to help grieving families find a community.
"Compassionate Friends is an organization, international organization and there's chapters in every state and almost in every community," Mims said.
He explained that the flier is a small way to help grieving families find support from others who have experienced a similar loss.
"Mothers are not supposed to bury their child," he said. "But it's their time to grieve."