Girl, 9, Holds Bake Sale to Help Pay for Father’s Funeral: People 'Actually Cared,' She Says
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After her father died in a car accident earlier this month, a 9-year-old from Kentucky held a heartbreaking bake sale to raise money for his funeral.
Kaylei Miller's father, 35-year-old Jason Barton, was killed in a crash on the night of Jan. 3, according to a GoFundMe set up for the family. Barton — a father of three — did not have life insurance or much remaining in savings, so the family was left having to fundraise for a memorial service in his honor.
"Death of our parents is not something we think about when we are kids and it is just heart breaking knowing these kids will be without their father," a relative wrote on the donation page. "This pandemic has taken a huge toll on all of them and then this happens. Jason was such a loving father and husband."
Because Kaylei has a knack for baking, she came up with the idea of throwing a bake sale at her local Dairy Queen to help raise money for the funeral, WAVE reported.
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Kaylei made red velvet cake adorned with sprinkles and sold them outside of the restaurant in Fairdale last week with her family's help. According to the news station, a line of cars formed to buy the goods, and even one couple donated $1,000 to their efforts.
"The pandemic won't stop us from caring about other people," Jack, who donated with his wife, Debbie, told WAVE. "As my wife said, she lost her father when she was in the fourth grade and still remembers what it was like. We knew the kind of pain the young lady was going through and we wanted to help."
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The show of people who came out to support the family left an impression on young Kaylie.
"Just grateful," Kaylei told the outlet of how she felt. "I cried yesterday because of all the people who actually cared."
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Her mother, Whitney, expressed her gratitude in a note on the family's GoFundMe, which has raised more than $35,000 as of Thursday afternoon.
"I just want to tell you guys how blessed and how thankful and grateful I am for all of these donations, because never in 1 million years would I ever thought people would care this much over someone who they have not ever even met," she wrote. "We are all so heartbroken and so very lost but your donations and your prayers are what's going to help us get through this terrible situation and we will live on in his memory thanks to all of you."
