Young organ donor remembered at inaugural Ella-ween

The impact of two-year-old Ella Crossett shone through at the first Halloween-themed, organ-donation awareness and fundraiser event in her memory Saturday.

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“I really wish she was here for it,” her mom Kristin Luckins said.

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“She would have loved it.”

Crossett’s organs were donated after she died suddenly in 2022, helping save at least two livesincluding a boy who visited and hugged Luckins at the kickoff of the inaugural Ella-ween at Rosedale school.

The Oct. 21 event coincided with what would have been Crossett’s fourth birthday, an occasion affectionately known as Ella-ween in her family because of her love for the holiday, Luckins said.

“Instead of planning a birthday party, I’m planning this, but it’s kind of like a party for her,” said Luckins, who became a board member with Sarnia Organ Donation Awareness (SODA) earlier this year.

The event included about 500 donated new and gently used Halloween costumes, available at $10 each, along with makeup and decor, to make Halloween more affordable for people and also raise money for SODA, Luckins said.

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Hopes are those costumes and others can be donated back in the years to come for subsequent events, she said.

A handful of vendors offered clothing, decorations, face painting and photo booths, among other things, with many also donating part of their proceedings towards the cause – grievance packages via SODA for organ-donor families, Luckins said.

The new initiative from the SODA is about helping out grieving families with things like gas and grocery gift cards. Kits range from $200 to $500 to assemble, Luckins said, recalling how similar gestures were helpful for her in mourning Crossett’s loss.

“So I just wanted to give that back,” she said, noting it acknowledges the decision to donate that can be difficult in the moment.

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“You only have such a short time,” she said.

Elizabeth White, with SODA, noted the importance of raising awareness about organ donation.

“Because until organ transplantation and donation affects you, you honestly have no idea,” she said, noting her daughter has a liver received via transplant.

Before that, transplants seemed like something that happened to other people, she said.

“Now my life revolves around that. It gives you a brand new perspective.”

Hopes were to raise a few thousand dollars from the event and get kits out to funeral homes in the near future, Luckins said.

She added she was overwhelmed by the help she’d received from volunteers, family and friends in getting the event together.

“I am kind of speechless today because everyone has really pulled together,” she said.

Costume donations can be made by contacting Luckins via Sarnia Scare Grams on Facebook, and at [email protected].

“I just want something that people will never forget her and that every year she won’t just disappear,” Luckins said about Crossett and holding Ella-ween in her honor.

“People will know who she is, what she did, and I still can plan a party every year for her.”

[email protected]

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