LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A Las Vegas family held its third annual Jaya’s Light Back-to-School Giveaway, distributing free backpacks and school supplies to children in need in memory of 3-year-old Jaya Brooks, who was killed in a wrong-way crash on U.S. 95 in 2023.
Organizers said this year’s turnout was the largest since the event began, with lines out the door and dozens of families filling bags with notebooks, rulers, crayons and other school basics. Free haircuts were also available at this year’s event.
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Who the event serves
The giveaway targets children who need extra support, including homeless students, families staying at Ronald McDonald House, and children in local hospitals. Organizers said the event runs entirely on outside donations, with all items free to attendees.
“Today this is all free for you,” Brooks said.
A father’s tribute
Jan Brooks, Jaya’s father, said the event is his way of carrying on his daughter’s memory.
“She just loves everybody,” Brooks said. “So this is, like, perfect. I couldn’t ask for nothin’ more. I just, like, ask just to keep coming out and keep supporting and doing what they’ve been doing.”
Brooks said the event has grown primarily through word of mouth and social media.
“It’s getting bigger just through word of mouth, the community, things like that — Facebook, social media,” Brooks said. “That’s the goal. Reach as many kids as possible.”
Brooks described his daughter as a constant source of energy and joy.
“We call it Jaya’s Light, ‘cause, like, it was never a dull moment,” Brooks said. “She was always just happy.”
He said keeping Jaya’s legacy alive is what drives him to continue the event each year.
“She was just a ball of light,” Brooks said. “My goal is to let her legacy — what she did, what she loved — just forever carry it on.”
Raffle prizes and upcoming events
In addition to free supplies, attendees were entered into a raffle for a girl’s bike, a boy’s bike and two scooters.
The family said they plan to continue growing Jaya’s Light each year, with a Halloween event planned as the next upcoming occasion. More information is available here.
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