A Scott County family's desire to remember 3-year-old Levi Collom while coping with his death has helped hundreds of people who have reached out to them over the last year -- and will continue to do so through a newly formed charity.

Levi's Children's Charity, a not-for-profit corporation, recently was established following a year of fundraising efforts to support the construction of Levi's Adventure Trail, an outdoor Discovery Playhouse exhibit comprised of activities the preschooler enjoyed doing.

Levi, the son of Ellie and Glenn Collom of Benton, Mo., died in his sleep March 18, 2012. The cause of his death has been ruled as Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood, which is the sudden, unexpected and unexplained death of a child over the age of 12 months.

"[Unless they've been through it,] no one knows that pain -- and it's a physical pain not just a sadness -- of losing a child. It feels like someone has ripped out your soul," said Viney Mosley of Cape Girardeau about her grandson's death.

After Levi's death, his family established a memorial fund to build an exhibit in his honor at the Cape Girardeau playhouse, where he frequented with his family, Mosley said.

"Within two weeks, we collected over $10,000," she said. "We had people coming up to us and wanting to help."

In April 2012, the Collom family and Discovery Playhouse came to a formal agreement where the not-for-profit organization established an account to set aside funds to construct Levi's Adventure Trail.

The family has raised more than $100,000 in cash plus an additional $55,000 in in-kind contributions for the exhibit to date, Mosley said.

A fundraiser was held Saturday in the block beside the Scott County Courthouse in Benton, where almost $7,000 was raised during the daylong family event, where the formation of Levi's Children's Charity also was announced.

"What's amazing to me through this whole journey of grief is that we've found out it's not just us that Levi's Adventure Trail is helping; it's helping other people, too," Mosley said.

From parents who've lost their children to others who want to offer their assistance, the Collom family hears from people every day either in person or through email or Facebook, she said.

"In January, the Discovery Playhouse suggested perhaps it's time for us to get our own 501c (3) rating due to the volume of activity that our account had raised; and they, too, have their own things they have to do deal with," Mosley said.

This wasn't a surprise to the family. When they started raising funds for Levi's Adventure Trail, the family was advised to partner with an organization that has similar goals, which is why they chose Discovery Playhouse, Mosley said. They were told once enough funds were raised to have a viable organization, they should go through the process to become a not-for-profit organization.

"Levi's Children's Charity has come about from all of that, and also it is more than just a playground," Mosley said. " ... It's not just about the exhibit at Discovery Playhouse anymore. When we get that completed, we're going to move on to help other communities."

The charity's mission includes inspiring community resources to help create family-friendly events, outdoor play areas for families and ensure access to all families regardless of their financial circumstances.

For example, the charity could help enhance a park a community already has by helping with fundraising efforts and awareness, getting others involved and helping to make it their project. The charity then would move on to another project, Mosley said.

Educating and raising awareness about SUDC also is part of the charity's mission. In addition, there currently is no local grief support for child siblings, Mosley said.

"There are a lot of things that we can help other families with," she said.

Levi's mother Ellie Collom said in addition to the charity, there is a new motto for their cause: "Stretch your heart just a little ... for the love of Levi."

"I personally came up with this after one of our recent fundraisers where I could physically see that each person that came felt so good about helping out," Collom said.

Collom said she and her family stretched their hearts that day to invite area children to participate in their "Seek, Snap, Treasure and Trash scavenger hunt.

"To see those children's smiles and joy is what made our day that day," Collom said. "So we try, every day, to stretch our hearts just a little because we know that's exactly what Levi would want us to do."

Pertinent address:

Benton, MO