TACOMA, Wash. — Twenty-six years after 2-year-old Teekah Lewis vanished from a Tacoma bowling alley, her family is turning their grief into a mission of generosity — one they hope will keep her memory alive while helping children in need.

Teekah’s mother, Theresa Czapiewski, is launching the first-ever “Hope for Teekah, Joy for Every Child” toy drive on Dec. 6, an effort she says brings her daughter’s spirit into a holiday season that has long been painful.

“As the days get closer to Christmas, it gets more emotional for me, because she should be here with us celebrating Christmas. She shouldn't be anywhere else,” Czapiewski said.

Inside her Tacoma home, Christmas decorations are already up, and presents are piling beneath the tree, not for her own grandchildren, but for children she

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