Granger Smith and his wife, Amber, will always mourn the loss of their youngest son, River, who drowned in the family’s swimming pool when he was just three years old. But his legacy will live on in the River Kelly Fund, created in honor of their little boy, as a way to help others, even as they continue to grieve their own heartbreaking loss.

“We immediately started River Kelly Fund to know that there’s a legacy that we can extend and that would live on through helping other people, so we could fill that purpose and you could feel just a little bit of meaning to know that it wasn’t all for nothing,” Granger shared on The Ty Bentli Show. “You could feel like you’re doing something. When you could hear stories of people that are affected by the River Kelly Fund in a good way, it doesn’t fix the problem, but it just helps with the healing process. So we set it up.”

According to the River Kelly Fund website, the Smiths want to “shine our light on those that provide support and bring awareness to causes including children in need, arts and education, wildlife preservation, military, veteran and first responder assistance, donor affiliations and many more organizations close to our hearts.”

“When you set up a foundation, you typically have to give to one organization, one kind of cause,” Granger explained. “So we, instead of a foundation, we set up a fund, which is why it’s the River Kelly Fund, which allows us to be very mobile in what we do and move. Whether it’s helping veterans or helping wildlife preservation or children with disabilities, hurricane rescue, it really goes all over the place and that’s where we want it to be.”

Granger planned on being on the road for much of this year, but is cherishing the time at home with Amber, daughter London, and son Lincoln.

“My center is home,” said the singer. “We would usually build two week breaks in the middle of really long tours just to get centered. Just to mow the grass and feel normal, to have a night with the family, eating dinner. Nights that you can take for granted when when you’re on tour. So absolutely. You’re right that next year, it’ll get shaken up again. It’s like shaking the dead wood out of a tree, though. You get more green and we’ll be more fruitful by doing that.”

Granger just released Country Things, Vol. 1. The record is available for purchase via his website.