KUNA — It's been five years since a dump truck hit a Kuna school bus, killing 11-year-old Daniel Cook.
For the Cook family, the memories are still as fresh as if it were yesterday.
“It really, really was a shaky moment in our family,” Daniel’s brother, Derek Cook said. “It's really something you never expect to happen, losing someone so suddenly and in a way that you never could've imagined.”
That day changed the family's lives forever.
“It really made us have to evolve and adapt and it's been five years since that and I guess the only way to really overcome the loss of someone, whether they're a brother or son, a child, is you have to change and evolve to the new circumstance that the loved one you have is no longer with you,” Cook said.
The family has since taken their pain and turned it into a way to help others.
“What inspired our family to do the toy drive is that we wanted to find a way to remember Daniel and contribute something positive and outgoing especially toward the Kuna community and his name,” Cook said.
On Saturday, the Cook family will hold its fifth annual toy and gift drive in honor of Daniel or "Danimal" as he's known.
The toy drive happens from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Freedom Fitness in Kuna.
“It doesn’t just have to be toys, it can be small things like gift cards or even money donations because we can go out and purchase toys if people want to donate money,” Cook said.
The family is now honoring Daniel’s legacy during this time of the year when so many are in need.
“I think Daniel, most of all, would be happy,” Cook said. “It's a way for our family to remember him in a good way, but most of all for us to help people in his name and I think he'd be really happy that we're doing something on his behalf.”
Daniel would have been 16 years old if he were alive today, getting ready to turn 17 next month.