ENDICOTT — Endicott locals Chris and Jana Mathia, AJ and Heather Mathia, and Jance and Kelly Mathia have began a toy enterprise to honor Evangeline Mathia, who died Might 17, 2022, at two years outdated in a drowning accident.
Jana Mathia mentioned that all of it started when, on the Palouse Empire Honest final yr, a fundraiser for the household gave them the cash to buy a 3D printer. Chris Mathia discovered the ins and outs whereas coping with an ankle surgical procedure. “It was laborious for him to be dwelling with out her there,” Jana Mathia mentioned, including that they began printing off dragons and promoting them to youngsters.
Jana Mathia mentioned that a lot of the cash goes again into shopping for filament. Since Eva’s 3D prints have been rising organically, they’re donating toys and cash to the Colfax Fireman’s Toybox this yr, and starting in 2024, 5% of their gross sales will go to the SPEAR Fund, which helps combat human trafficking. “The one good factor I can say about her being gone is I don’t have to fret about these issues occurring to her,” Jana Mathia mentioned.
Eva’s 3D Prints has purchased six printers and different printing paraphernalia and even opened a retailer in Spokane.
For Jana Mathia, giving misprints to youngsters helps her deal with the grief of shedding her daughter. “As a substitute of throwing these issues away, we might simply give them out to youngsters,” she mentioned, including that with the ability to see little youngsters’ smiles is her method of honoring her daughter. “I don’t have my little lady to present a toy to, to play with, so I give it to others.”
Moments that stick out for her embody giving a 3-year-old boy who’s combating most cancers a toy and giving one to a bit lady whereas at a restaurant, “Which was additionally the 18-month mark since our lady drowned,” she mentioned, “I simply wish to honor my daughter, I miss her.”
Jana Mathia mentioned they could possibly be as beneficiant as they’re now due to the Whitman County group’s generosity within the early days of their grief. “I nonetheless haven’t mailed ‘Thank Yous’ to those that donated on the truthful sale, as a result of I’m nonetheless so overwhelmed by it and have a breakdown each time I begin,” she mentioned, including that she hopes their small acts of kindness honor the group as a lot as they honor Evangeline.
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