Parents of 4-year-old killed in 2020 tornado launch non-profit to help other grieving families

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Mother’s Day weekend can be an emotional time, especially if you’ve lost a child.

Macy and Matt Collins know it all too well, after losing their four-year-old daughter Hattie, when an EF-4 tornado swept through Putnam County in March 2020.

“You don’t want your child to be forgotten, even though they’re no longer physically here,” said Macy.

The couple co-founded the Magnolia Foundation in 2023 to help other families through their grief.

The non-profit helps pay for funeral expenses, headstones, grief counseling, and what they call commemorative care.

“The day of the child’s birthday, day of loss, holidays like Mother’s Day -- we mail them something to put in their hands, so they know that there’s somebody out there that hasn’t forgotten, somebody that still cares,” Matt explained.

A former youth pastor at Cookeville’s Collegeside Church of Christ, Matt went full-time with the Magnolia Foundation in January.

He says they are already helping two families a week, many referred to by Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

To learn more about, refer a family, or donate to the Magnolia Foundation, click here.