Home Town Heroes: The Garg Family - abc22/Fox45 - April 25, 2025
Home Town Heroes: The Garg Family
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WKEF) -- On July 26, 2006, 6-year-old Yukta Garg was tragically killed in a car accident at the entrance of the Washington Township RecPlex.
In the 19 years since her death, her parents have been keeping her memory alive by establishing a non-profit organization that supports activities and causes within Washington Township that benefit and support local children.
Yukta Garg was a 6-year-old little girl who loved to sing, dance, and chat with all of her friends.
“She was a deeply, deeply loving younger sister to our older daughter, as you can see, daddy's darling daughter, a fiercely loyal friend, and she was very confident in her day-to-day dealings,” said Arti Garg, Yukta's mother.
However, tragedy struck on July 26, 2006, when the car she was riding in was t-boned outside of the Washington RecPlex as she was heading to a summer camp.
Yukta lost her life that day, and her parents have been working to make that area safer while keeping her memory alive.
“So our immediate reaction to that was that it shouldn't have happened and it should not happen to anyone else so we set up the foundation and then put an online petition for the Department of Transportation, and within four days got 2,000+ signatures supporting our ask, request,” said Hemant Garg, Yukta's father.
ODOT did a traffic study in that area and determined that they needed to make that stretch of 725 safer.
“What that does is that no one can now take a left turn, it only allows the right turn, which streamlines the traffic, but in any case we took care of that, and it was mainly for the safety of other people, and it's mostly kids who come to the rec center,” said Hemant Garg.
In addition, the Garg family started the Yukta Garg Memorial Foundation that has raised over $90,000 over the years and has made incredible impacts in the Washington Township community, including building a Butterfly Playground at the RecPlex for other children.
“This playground is much more than a butterfly playground for us it is the way of keeping her memory alive, and when we see kids laughing, playing, and having a good time, both of us feel that Yukta is still there giggling, laughing, and, who knows, even chasing butterflies,” said Arti Garg.
The Gargs have worked so hard to make Washington Township safer and even more family-friendly than it was before, and it's all in honor of Yukta.
“This July it will be 19 years, but it is still very fresh. You know people say time is a healer, I would say for us it was like yesterday. I don't think time heals it. I think what helped us the most was channeling our energy,” said Hemant Garg.
“This is a place where kids come together, families come together, and they form bonds that stay forever, and that is the most important thing, that they are making beautiful memories,” said Arti Garg.