McKenna’s Christmas Wish

Hi. My name is Stephanie Gentile. I’m not really sure how to start this, so I’m going to just do my best. I am the wife of Jordan Gentile. We are aunt and uncle (and now guardians) of McKenna (14), Ashton’s daughter. As many of you reading this may know, Ashton passed away unexpectedly on April 13th, 2022. Preceding her death, a GoFundMe account was created by her mother. She had stated that she was going to pay to bury Ashton and that the money raised was going to be put into an account for McKenna. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Although we had no part in where that money went, we are deeply sorry to those who donated their money with the belief that it was going to benefit McKenna, and God bless you all for doing so.

As of now, Ashton’s remains are still located at the funeral home where she was cremated due to the expenses not being paid. Jordan and I found this out in July of this year after taking in McKenna. She was being raised by her grandmother for quite some time. In June, she took her to Texas. Little did McKenna know, there were no set living plans for them, and they were living in a U-Haul truck. During an emergency, McKenna was able to contact us, and that day, we drove straight to San Antonio, Texas, to bring her home with us and raise her as a part of our family.

Due to the circumstances of us raising now 5 children in our home, the expenses are not something we have been able to take on by ourselves. This year, for Christmas, McKenna has made one wish, and that is to have her mother. The costs we are facing to get her ashes from the funeral home are $2,600. We are asking for help to raise this money to help bring home Ashton’s remains for McKenna to have and make her one Christmas wish come true this year. The goal is set higher than what is needed so we can also cover the cost of a nice urn for her to have and also get her a necklace made to carry a piece of Ashton with her. Anything raised over the cost of those specific things will actually go into an account for McKenna as she will be 16 in just a short 17 months. We would love to have something to build on to help her get her first car and keep an account for her to receive something on her 18th birthday.

Those of you who may know McKenna, please do not share this information with her as she will not be made aware that we are trying to make this possible. If we can do this, we will share all of this information with her and show her all of the donations and information following her receiving her mother’s ashes. Those of you who took the time to simply read this and will even share it to spread the word, thank you. And thank you also to those of you kind enough to donate, maybe even a second time now, to help her receive what she deserves. Losing your mother at 11 years old isn’t something any child should ever have to go through, and if it gives her peace just to have a piece of her mother forever, then that’s the goal we will strive to achieve.