LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — A Lexington family has turned grief into action nearly six years after their mother was shot and killed in her own driveway.
The Alice Carter Foundation is hosting its fifth annual backpack giveaway Saturday, July 11, at the Charles Young Center on East Third Street. The event runs from noon to 2 p.m. Backpacks will be available while supplies last, and parents must be present with their children.
The event is in honor of Alice Carter, who was 82 years old when police say she was shot and killed in October 2020 on West Fifth Street in Lexington. The case remains unsolved, and her family still does not know who was responsible for the deadly crossfire.
Carter raised eight children and was also a former nurse. Her daughters describe her as a cornerstone of the community who was always willing to help someone in need.
"She was passionate about education, religion, and family," her daughter Vanessa Smothers told LEX News. "That was the three most important things to her."
Her sister echoed that sentiment.
"She was a jewel," said Jacqueline Francis. "If you would have met her, she was just a jewel."
The sisters say nearly six years later, the grief of losing their mother remains.
"It still hurts. Mother's Day, Thanksgiving, her birthday, those are the hardest ones," Francis said. "We still get over it. It's hard, but we still get over it. We get through it. We don't get over it, we get through it."
This year, the foundation purchased at least 100 backpacks with their own money, each filled with school supplies. The giveaway is open to children from kindergarten through 12th grade.
For Smothers and Francis, giving back is a way of keeping their mother's memory alive.
"It makes me feel good to give back," said Smothers. "And I always say, Mom, this is for you. You are reminding us this is what you do, this is what you've done."
