Local Gold Star Family Appears on Kelly Clarkson Show

Story by Claire Sandow

For Jennifer Hagan and her son Jack Smith, supporting the military is a family affair. Over the past two years, thay have both volunteered to place American flags for the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum’s Flags for the Fallen program to commemorate Memorial Day, something that has become more meaningful since last year.

Jack’s father, Master Sergeant Darrell Smith, passed away on May 9, 2023, while serving his country, making the family a Gold Star family. A Gold Star family is one that has an immediate family member who died while on active duty. Jack wears his father’s dog tags in memory of him.

“Jack always says that his dad was his hero because he fought for our country,” says Jennifer. “His dad was an Airborne Ranger, so he jumped out of airplanes a lot. When Jack was little, we used to go into the fields and watch all the Rangers jump out of the airplane. His sacrifice for our country means a lot not just to us, but to everyone.”

As an Army ranger, Darrell deployed to many different places, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Because of the nature of his work he couldn’t always discuss where he was going, which was an added challenge for the family. His income contributed to the costs of Jack’s extracurricular activities like karate and golf.

After Darrell’s death, Jennifer was looking for a way to continue to pay for his lessons and maintain a sense of normalcy in Jack’s life. In the process, she discovered Gold Star Kids Support Services, a Georgia-based nonprofit that funds recreational opportunities and extracurricular activities for children who have lost a family member in the line of duty.

“I filled out applications for several different organizations. I heard back from one and it was Gold Star Kids Support Services,” says Jennifer. “They called me and wanted to know about Darrell and Jack and the hobbies he liked. It wasn’t too much later that they let me know that they were going to start paying for his karate and golf lessons.”f

Karate is especially meaningful to Jack because it was an activity that he shared with his dad. He has worked hard to earn his blue belt as a student at Pooler Karate and is enjoying advancing through the ranks.

At the time, Jennifer had no idea that the financial support they received from Gold Star Kids Support Services would be the beginning of a connection between two families, one that would bring them together in New York City.

Gold Stars and Gold Awards

Gold Star Kids Support Services was founded in 2022 as part of Leighanne Bryant’s Gold Award project as a Girl Scout. Leighanne’s father Jim is active in the Georgia State Defense Force and both of her grandfathers served in the military, so she saw the importance of supporting the military. She frequently volunteered at events catered to military families.

“When I was in elementary school and middle school, my dad would take me to the airbase close to us, and I would help out with the kids there,” says Leighanne. “I would paint their faces or do fun activities with them while their parents were working.”

She started researching Gold Star families and learned about the challenges they faced that went beyond the initial grief of losing a family member, including financial barriers created by going from two incomes to one. What started as a community project morphed into a 501c3 nonprofit in March 2023.

“I have done a lot of extracurriculars throughout my life, and I know how expensive they can be,” says Leighanne. “That's why I chose to focus my nonprofit on just extracurricular activities and helping Gold Star children.”

Leighanne fundraises through community events and donations and also makes presentations and pitches to organizations to gather sustaining financial support. She recently competed in a “Shark Tank”-style competition and won $10,000 to continue her work supporting Gold Star families.

Attracting National Attention

Leighanne’s philanthropy caught the attention of the Kelly Clarkson Show after she submitted a video for consideration for the show’s “Rad Human” segment.

“A producer reached out to us and said, ‘Kelly saw your video. She wants you on the show,’” says Leighanne. “It was very exciting.”

In the process of preparing for the show, producers asked her about some of the people that Gold Star Kids Support Services had helped. As it turns out, Jennifer and Jack were the first family to receive assistance from the fledgling nonprofit.

“I had thought it was a big organization, and they had only been doing this for six months or so,” says Jennifer. “It was awesome to find out that this was run by a young girl. She is a Girl Scout; I was also a Girl Scout, and she lives in Marietta, which is where I was born.”

The Kelly Clarkson Show

On opposite ends of Georgia, Leighanne, Jennifer and Jack prepared for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to New York City to appear on the Kelly Clarkson Show.

“They had let us know that they were going to fly them up, but we weren't allowed to see each other because they wanted the first time meeting to be authentic on TV,” says Leighanne.

Before they filmed, Jennifer and Jack had a chance to tour some of New York City’s famous sights, including the Statue of Liberty, One World Trade Center and Times Square.

“I really enjoyed the soccer store on Times Square,” says Jack.

Jennifer and Jack both have experience in acting in commercials and film, but being on a talk show was a whole new adventure.

“We had to stand behind a door and then it just opens and you just walk out to this crowd of people and Kelly Clarkson,” says Jennifer. “It was definitely something I've never experienced before. The whole thing was pretty cool.”

The two families met for the first time on stage, where Jennifer was able to thank Leighanne and Jim in person and Jack got to demonstrate some of the moves he learned in karate. The excitement didn’t end there. Both Jack and Leighanne received a laptop and $5,000 to use however they pleased.

“We often get pictures from the families of them doing their activities, but this is the only family I’ve been able to meet,” says Leighanne. “As soon as I saw them walk on the stage I literally almost started crying. Just hearing their story and hearing them talk made me really emotional.”

Future Plans

Soccer and acting are some additional interests that Jack plans to explore thanks to the support he is receiving from Gold Star Kids Support Services. The organization funds activities in six-month intervals so kids can try different extracurriculars and see what they like best.

Because of the appearance on the Kelly Clarkson Show, Gold Star Kids Support Services has received requests for support from as far away as Arizona. Leighanne is headed to the University of Tennessee this fall to begin her freshman year of college, but plans to continue operating her nonprofit while she’s in school.

“I hope to grow [Gold Star Kids Support Services] a lot more than it's already been growing,” says Leighanne.