Millville, NJ Six-Year-Old Basketball Fan Cory Charles Passes Away After Lifelong Disability; Family Launches GoFundMe to Cover Funeral Costs

Gone way too soon!

December 29, 2026

This article was last updated by Alisha Shrestha on December 29, 2026

Six-year-old Cory Charles of Millville died recently, leaving a small house and a big hole in the lives of the people who loved him. Cory lived with a disability from birth, but what everyone remembers first about him wasn’t the illness.

It was the way he smiled when he held his little basketball, the quiet way he loved his stuffed animals, and how watching TV together felt like the best part of any day.

His mother, Hanan Charles R., set up a GoFundMe to help cover funeral and memorial costs. The family is seeking just under $10,000, roughly $9,000, to give Cory the farewell they want.

In the fundraiser post, she writes plainly and painfully, Cory brought joy to the family every day, and now they’re asking for help so they can focus on saying goodbye rather than being crushed by bills.

Friends have begun to answer that call. Paul Anderson, a close friend, posted a short plea, “A dear friend had a tragic loss today. If anyone can spare anything to help for the funeral expenses it would be greatly appreciated.”

It’s the kind of message you see when a neighborhood tightens up, direct, practical, and urgent.

Cory was small in years but large in presence. He liked the same simple things many six-year-olds do: cartoons, toys, a favorite ball he carried like a treasure.

Those small pleasures were everything to him and to the people around him. For his family, those routine moments, a show on the TV, a quiet game, a laugh at the dinner table, were the daily treasures that made up a life.

The GoFundMe description focuses on those moments, not medical details, and that’s what the family wants people to remember.

Funerals and memorials are expensive. For families already handling medical bills, the cost of a farewell can feel impossible.

Millville family asks community for help after tragic loss

The Charles family’s request is straightforward: help cover burial and service expenses so they can grieve without another crisis pressing down on them.

Donations will go directly to those expenses; sharing the campaign or keeping the family in people’s thoughts is just as valuable when money isn’t possible.

This kind of loss also shines a light on what families of children with long-term disabilities face every day.

The practical work, caregiving, appointments, therapy, becomes the rhythm of life, and when the child passes, the financial and emotional weight can pile up all at once.

Local support, whether dollars or time or a shared meal, makes an immediate difference.

It’s not grand gestures that matter most; it’s the steady help that lets a family breathe.

Cory’s story is short and heartbreakingly simple. He was loved. He was cared for. He touched people with a smile and a gentle presence.

The neighborhood, friends, and anyone moved by the family’s plea can help in small, concrete ways: donate to the GoFundMe campaign organized by Hanan Charles R.; share the campaign link; or send a note of sympathy. All of it matters.

For now, Millville is grieving a little louder than usual. The small routines that were Cory’s world, a TV show, a basketball, a stuffed animal, are the memories his family will carry forward.

The funeral fund is a way for people to turn that grief into support, to make sure Cory’s final goodbye is calm, respectful, and exactly what his family hopes it will be.

If you can help, do. If you can’t, share the campaign and keep the Charles family in your thoughts.

Either way, the simplest thing you can offer is presence: a shared memory, a small donation, or the knowledge that a community is standing with them.

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Anish Koirala has loved sports since he was a kid. He grew up playing basketball and soccer, and that passion stayed with him over the years. Today, Anish works as a writer and editor, sharing his knowledge and love for the game through articles and stories. He uses his playing experience to make his writing clear, thoughtful, and fun to read.

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