CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There will always be a bond between Sharon Furr and her late sister, Cynthia.
"She was the keeper of my secrets. It is hard to explain to someone that, together you make a whole," said Sharon as she sat in the living room of her farm in Blackstock, S.C.
That bond was broken in April 2009.
It was Sharon's birthday so Sharon, her mother, Cynthia and Cynthia's 2-year-old daughter Macallister all went out shopping. It was just a fun, girls' day out.
Sharon remembers that afternoon.
"At 4:30 we hugged and loved and kissed, and then at 6:30 they were gone," she said.
Cindy and Mackie, as Macallister was known, were pulling out from their street, River Point Drive in south Charlotte onto Route 49. They were going just a mile or so to church when they were hit by a car driven by Tyler Stasko of Matthews. Police say Stasko was drag racing with another car driven by Carlene Atkinson of Lake Wylie.
Stasko's car slammed into Cindy's car at a speed, police said, was over 70 mph. A 13-year-old boy, Hunter Holt, who was riding in Stasko's car, was also killed.
Neighbors had been asking for a traffic light at the intersection well before the crash and after the three deaths, the light was finally installed.
That traffic light is a sort of legacy, but the Furr family now has another kind of legacy in mind. They've started the Cindy-Mackie Foundation to provide scholarships and grants to help students in English and the performing arts.
"Cindy loved everybody and she saw good in everybody," said Jean Furr, Cindy's mother.
Jean says the foundation will be a reminder of Cindy's love for life and her wish to help others
"We're hoping we're going to have folks who see it as just a wonderful cause in children's lives," Sharon Furr added.
Money for the foundation will come from donations and from the sale of CDs of Cindy's music. She was the choir director at the church she and her daughter were headed to when they were hit.
There will be a celebration gala to formally launch the foundation Tuesday night at Anna's Arbor Restaurant in Chester.
"I really wanted Cindy and the baby to leave a legacy in the world," said Sharon.
