GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. — Levi Shepherd was just nine years old when he passed away from Lennox-Gastaut Epilepsy and IHPRF syndrome in 2022 — a severe, inherited neurological disorder that affects children at birth or early in infancy that leads to a life with constant seizures, speech impairment and developmental delays.
Before he passed, Jacksonville nonprofit, Dreams Come True, worked to give him and his family memories they would always treasure.
Now in Levi's honor, they're paying it forward by hosting an all-inclusive workout at Green Cove CrossFit in Green Cove Springs on Saturday. This fundraiser on Levi's death anniversary helps local children battling a life-threatening medical condition, the same way the Shepherd family was helped during the last years of Levi's life.
This funding allowed Levi and his siblings to have Christmas presents and live out his dream of going to all the theme parks in Orlando.
After losing Levi, his mother Jacquelyn Shepherd told First Coast News she's passionate about giving back to the same organization that gave her peace of mind during the hardest part of her life.
“You go through the worst thing imaginable and then to see the goodness that comes from it, everyone rallying around you, supporting causes near and dear to your heart, it's so special to see the good things that are still here,” she said.
Shepherd added that this fundraiser does more than support other families across Northeast Florida, but gives her peace in her own journey with grief.
“You know, I've struggled with finding my purpose after Levi passed and to do little things like this to give as to some reason as I am here or things that I can do for other people, this helps me,” Shepherd said.
You can take part in the workout at Green Cove CrossFit starting at 10 a.m. Saturday with a $20 donation.