TAMPA, Fla. — Christmas in July is bringing on a whole new meaning with Tampa hosting the “Believe With Me” Freedom 4-Miler run for the first time. The run raises money to help support families of fallen soldiers.

“My husband was a soldier til his last breath,” said widow, Jillian Hinton.

Her husband, Army Sergeant Terrance Hinton, died in a training accident on Mother’s Day of 2017. Their kids were five and thirteen.

“For those first couple months, you just honestly don’t feel like you’re going to make it through,” said Hinton.

Six years later, Hinton and the kids are making it through, with help from “Believe With Me,” an organization that supports Gold Star families.

“I know for a fact that at any point in time anything that I go through, I can call them,” said Hinton.

The organization assists with anything from financial to emotional support, to helping parents and kids through Christmas.

Every Christmas, children receive a satchel from Santa.

“In her heart, she still fully believes that these presents are coming from Heaven and it just makes her feel like dad is still there,” Hinton said.

The widow wants to help other families feel that same support. She knows the grip grief can hold, especially during the holidays.

“I didn’t feel like going to shop for toys. I didn’t even want to open my curtains,” Hinton said. “And my kids just weren’t even in a place where they could tell me what they wanted and someone, somewhere, was getting things together for my kids.”

Hinton says she now feels stronger and more confident and wants to give back, so she’s gathering toys for families like hers.

Among other projects, she’s participating in the toy drive that fills the Santa satchels at Christmas.

“My hope is that it will arrive and take some of that burden off of a mom and bring some of that joy to a kid,” said Hinton.

Just like “Believe With Me” believed in Hinton, she wants to help others turn grief into strength and confidence.

“When I see a picture of him, man, I smile because I can still hear him laugh. It was like a goofy laugh. And I draw from that some days,” said Hinton.

Drawing from a lost love, while this widow carries on her late husband’s legacy.

Hinton and her family will be at the Freedom 4-Miler run on July 1, and she says she will continue to support "Believe With Me" any way she can.