[autotag]Walt Harris[/autotag] and his wife, Angela, have launched a program in memory of their daughter, Aniah Blanchard.
The couple, who’s daughter was kidnapped and murdered in late 2019, have launched Aniah’s Heart, a non-profit that aims to raise awareness and help families search for missing loved ones. The program also teaches families self-defense and provides awareness training.
The foundation is centered around “four key safety areas of service”: safety and awareness education, self-defense training, search and rescue, and supporting families of missing victims, which includes funding for searches that can be costly for families.
Harris tells UFC.com that the donations received by the foundation will help families cope with expenses through these trying times.
“When a family member has a missing loved one, you really don’t know what you need to do,” Harris said. “The contributions we receive for Aniah’s Heart will go towards lodging, food, travel, and other costs you just wouldn’t think about. We needed clothes on the fly, food and a place to stay when everything first happened. It becomes very, very expensive very quickly, and we realized how much goes into everything in real time.
“In those moments, parents aren’t even thinking of anything related to those things. You don’t think about renting a helicopter that costs $10,000 to search the areas from the air; you are just doing anything you can to try and find your child. We want to ease that stress as families are going through those issues in the middle of that horrible process. We just want to be a buffer and blessing in that situation.”
To find out more, you can reach out to and contact Aniah’s Heart here.