More than $10,000 has been raised for the Anna Van Horn memorial fund, as her parents have been overwhelmed with support from neighbors, friends, folks they didn’t even know and Anna’s third-grade classmates from Braelinn Elementary School.
Anna, 9, drowned in the Chattahoochee River June 3 in a tubing accident, despite the fact that she wore a lifevest.
Anna’s father, Norm Van Horn, said that money from the memorial fund will be used to build a gazebo and community garden at Braelinn Elementary. He and Anna’s mother Karen Van Horn decided to have the memorial fund to support causes their daughter would have appreciated, and family and friends were asked to contribute to the fund in lieu of sending flowers for her funeral.
Since then, however, money has continued pouring in, said Norm Van Horn.
“I was surprised at how many people she touched, not just at school but at other places,” he said, noting, “we have a lot of thank you cards to send out.”
Anna’s fellow third-graders and their parents organized a lemonade and cookie stand outside the city’s amphitheater during a recent concert to raise funds for the effort, Van Horn said. The school has been providing a list of the donors to the fund to the family, and Van Horn said he has just been amazed.
“In ways you just didn’t appreciate how much the Braelinn Village community in Peachtree City cared,” Van Horn said. “We had neighbors and people coming out of the woodwork we never met before, giving their condolence and bringing us food. It was just an amazing outpouring of support. We just want to make sure that gets recognized.”
The idea for the gazebo and garden at Braelinn Elementary came about because of Anna’s participation on the school’s Green Team, which focuses on the environment.
Anna was involved in Upward basketball, took drama classes and was very artistic, her father said. Also she enjoyed horseback riding, and took weekly electric guitar lessons.
Getting along without Anna is not easy, but the family is “just taking it one day at a time,” Van Horn said.
Asked for other thoughts about the matter, Van Horn had a message for all parents out there.
“You just need to treasure every moment with your kids and you can never be too overprotective,” he said.
