Knightdale couple use outdoor holiday decorations to raise donations for charitable causes

A family in Knightdale goes all out every year for Christmas. And as the lights and inflatables have become an attraction, they have turned their effort into giving back.

Posted 11:21 p.m. Dec 9, 2022 — Updated 12:14 a.m. Dec 10, 2022

Rick Armstrong

, WRAL photojournalist

KNIGHTDALE, N.C. — A family in Knightdale goes all out every year for Christmas. And as the lights and inflatables have become an attraction, they have turned their effort into giving back.

At 306 Banner Blue Court and online, Chris and Sara Boyd use the attention to their holiday display to encourage donations for charitable causes.

Their yard is filled with small and huge inflatable decorations including several puffed-up Santa Clauses and plenty of reindeer. This time of year, crowds come with young children to see the spectacle.

This year donations go to the memory of Mary Marshall, a victim of the recent October mass shooting in Raleigh’s Hedingham community.

Sara Boyd said, "This tragic event was just a couple of miles down the street from our home."

That fact helped to motivate the Boyds to reach out to Marshall’s fiancé Rob Steele. He lost the love of his just days before their wedding.

Steele said, "Having the Boyds, who I’d never met before, do something like this to help me out, it’s just, it’s heartwarming."

He’s been helping Marshall’s family with leftover debts including funeral costs and arrangements for a honeymoon that never took place.

Last year the Boyd’s raised $3,000 to help the family of Knightdale Officer Ryan Hayworth who died when a drunk driver hit him on Interstate 540. This year, they expect to raise even more to share with Steele.

"We felt like if we could utilize this to bring some good into the world out of something completely tragic that occurred, we wanted to do so," said Sara Boyd.

Steele said, "It’s amazing the connections that are there that you didn’t know about before-hand. The generosity of people like the Boyds is just, there’s no words."

The Boyds say they just put out the decorations and people come. Chris Boyd said, "This is really for the community. This is really by the community. All the donations, this really isn’t about us, it’s really about everybody else, so just a good way to give back."

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