Ava loves water!!!

Ava loves water!!!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

It's OFFICIAL!

Well, the cooperate papers are filed...the EIN number with the IRS has been received.... we are officially the


Avalyn Shaye Foundation, Inc. 


Our mission: The Avalyn Shaye Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization established to preserve the memory of Ava Bright by enriching the lives of children through compassionate actions that build and uplift communities for the benefit of all children, giving them opportunities to embrace the things Ava portrayed: joy, love, and laughter. 


Our Vision: 


  • To support the local community through the building and maintaining of “Ava’s Splash Pad”, an aquatic playground located at Charlie Daniel’s Park in Ava’s hometown, Mt. Juliet Tennessee. 
  • To make quality preschool education attainable through the “Avalyn Shaye Preschool Scholarship”, allowing young children between the ages of 3-5 years old to explore areas of creative play with music and art, as well as to engage in activities promoting cognitive development in the preschool environment. 
  • To address community needs and strengthen our community by collaborating with and supporting existing child related charities that have similar missions, providing proof of the good that emerges when neighbors come together. 
  • To improve the lives of children and families who have endured pediatric trauma resulting in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) hospital stay by providing care packages resulting in a more comfortable hospital experience for the children and their families. 

AN OFFICIAL WEBSITE AND LOGO IS ON IT'S WAY AS WELL! WE ARE SO VERY PROUD OF THIS!!!! 

XOXO
JIM AND KRISTA BRIGHT (AVA'S MOMMY AND DADDY)

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Shoppers NEEDED!



I'm so super excited about this even hosted my the MJ Women's Club. Lots of neat vendor's are going to be at the vendor sale. Cute, cute, cute custom clothes, bows, jewelry,  picture frames, art work for kid's rooms, home decor, basket's, t-shirt orders, and many more! I' going to go broke! :)

Monday, September 20, 2010

THANK YOU!!!!



Ava Splashing! 
To our wonderful community:
I would like to send a wholehearted thank you to all of those involved in making Ava’s Community Yard Sale a huge success. We raised over $12,500 in just one day! What an awesome community we live in! 
THANK YOU to all the donors, volunteers and shoppers! A special thank you to our friends, family members and volunteers.  We couldn’t have done it without you! A huge thanks to our sponsors for their generous donations: Garr’s Rental and Feed, Publix, Kroger, Peebles, Dollar General, The Yankee Candle Company, The Greenhill Women’s Club, Jennifer and David Lagadinos,  Girl Scout Troop 1352,  David Bennett of Clyde's Delicious Donuts, It’s My Turn Consignment, Looking Glass Consignment, Billy Crips with Digitec, and Jenny Faulk with Kona Ice. I would also like to thank the local media outlets for running our story, as it is key in our fundraising efforts! 
The items not sold were donated to the Wilson County Help Center, Wilson County Schools, Light House Christian School, Mt. Juliet Help Center, Brooks House, Goodwill, Girl Scouts, and Brandon and April Smith to aid in their fundraising efforts to adopt their 2 little boys. It warms our hearts to see so many benefiting from this sale. 
Jim and I personally want to send our heartfelt thanks to everyone for all of their love, kindness, and support over the last several months.  It's been hard adjusting to life without our sweet Ava.  She was and still is our cherished little girl.  She filled our hearts with love and brought so many smiles to our faces.  We genuinely thank you for helping in our fundraising efforts to build a splash pad in memory of Ava at Charlie Daniel’s Park. She will always be a part of our lives and our hope is that her memory will live on in this wonderful community as well. Stay tuned for more fundraising opportunities for Ava’s Splash Pad. We have a ways to go to meet our goal! 
Sincerely, 
Jim and Krista Bright (Ava’s mommy and daddy)

Monday, September 13, 2010

SUCCESS!!!

We had clothes for days...quite literally! THANK YOU!

SNOWCONES! Yummy!

Face painting fun!

The rain held off all day...and there was even a rainbow headed towards lebanon on Hwy 70

Look at all this stuff! So many donated SOOO many nice things!


Ava's Mommy...always and forever!


WOW! The yard sale was a great success. SO far, we are totaling $12, 500 and we are still collecting money. I am thinking once this is all over, it will total $13,000! WHAT a HUGE SUCCESS! I am so proud of this community for the outpouring of love and support for this project...for our sweet girl...and for my efforts to enrich this community park and the lives of the MJ children! We took the leftovers to Goodwill, girl scouts took some to clean up and hand back out to needy children, toys to local childcare centers, more leftovers to help a family adopting 2 boys raise money for the adoption, and things to the library (if they will take them, still not sure on that yet). So, all in all, this is a great start to the splash pad. Our architects and engineers will be pleased to hear the total of our kick off fundraiser! Speaking of architects and engineers, they are currently drawing up the conceptual design of the pad so that I may share it will all of you very soon. I can't wait to see it! THANK YOU ALL who donated items, volunteered your time, tents, building, muscles (haha), and shopped to make this sale a huge success. It means more to us than you could ever know! OH and I completely forgot to mention the total so far (we are still selling some things)....are you ready....you won't believe this...$12, 500!!!!!

XOXO
Jim and  Krista Bright
Ava's mommy and daddy

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

SHOP this SATURDAY!

Example of a "splash pad"

Ava splashing in the backyard...8 months old. 
PLEASE don't forget about the yard sale this Saturday. ALL profits go in the Avalyn Shaye Bright Memorial Fund (501 (c)3 status pending).  Please see blogs below for ALL the information. Thinking that leftovers will be donated to MJ HELP center instead of Goodwill. Trying to keep all the donations in the COMMUNITY since that is what Ava's Foundation Mission Statement supports.

XOXO
Krista Bright (Ava's mommy)

Wednesday, August 11, 2010





It was the life of 2 year old Ava Bright and her legacy that inspired us to come up with a place for families to go and enjoy each other and spend precious time together....a splash pad for the Mt.Juliet Community. A few months ago, Ava went to heaven. It was a tragic, and unexpected loss for all those who knew her. It became all too real how short this life really is. It is our desire to share a place with the Mt. Juliet community that would allow families and friends to come together, spend time and make memories with one another. It is our hope to offer children the chance to experience the things Ava loved most. A splash pad in the MtJuliet community will be built in her memory to encompass all those things. Please help us in the fundraising efforts for this big project. Join us on Saturday September 11, 2010 for a yard sale at Greenhills Women’s Club building at the little league park in Mt.Juliet. It is donations only, so nothing has price tags. Come find great deals on things you need, as well as help fund a great cause for the community.