Nonprofit in Daughter's Honor

By Selen Ozturk

parkle Davis lost her only child when her daughter was killed in a mass shooting at a 2019 Halloween party held in an Orinda Airbnb. Nineteen-year-old Oshiana Thompkins was airlifted to a local hospital but died in the early hours of the next day.

In the aftermath of that tragedy, Davis discovered notes Thompkins had left indicating that she had wanted to start a youth recreation center. And so in her honor Davis created a nonprofit in 2021: the Oshiana Unique Thompkins Foundation. Since April 16, 2022, Davis has operated it in a community space under the name Reach O.U.T. Mode Center, at 435 Valley View Road in El Sobrante.

“What should have been a night of innocent fun turned into one of terror and tragedy,” Davis said. “I needed to turn my pain into purpose. From that pain, I have been blessed with the strength to continue my daughter’s legacy by going after the very goals she wished to achieve.”

Thompkins was deeply involved in community service, doing charity work throughout Richmond with the Neighborhood Housing Community Outreach Center, the Green Team Agriculture Garden Program, and as a youth leader at Shields-Reid Park.

At the time of the shooting, Thompkins

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Swas attending cosmetology school in Laney College in Oakland. Several witnesses to the crime — which left Thompkins and four men in their 20s dead and four others injured — said they saw Thompkins helping others to safety before she was shot.

“I thank God that she held on until I came to the hospital and said goodbye,” Davis said. “She fought through it to the end. She was in critical condition. But when she heard me saying that her mama was here, her hands started moving.”

Davis learned only after her daughter died that she had signed up when she was 16 to be an organ donor. Davis signed up to be a donor too in mid-2021.

“Even after Oshi passed, she had something to give,” Davis said. Thompkins provided over 620 tissue grafts and enabled seven life-saving organ donations for individuals ages 2 to 32. One of the recipients was a 12-year-old girl who was diagnosed with lupus. She endured kidney failure for two years and was told she would not live to adulthood. A post the following year on the Reach O.U.T. Mode website said the girl was then “a happy thriving 13-year-old girl who” had been given “a chance to grow up.”

“Dealing with loss never gets easy,” Davis said. “You just learn to do your best to keep living for yourself as well as your loved one. Oshi was part of the Boys & Girls Club of El Sobrante, and I want the ROM Center to be the same safe haven for youth that the club was for her.”

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ABOUT US: Richmond Pulse is a youth-led, community media project focusing on health and community coverage in the city of Richmond, California. The project is supported by The California Endowment.

SOBRE NOSOTROS: Richmond Pulse es un proyecto de noticias comunitarias liderada por jóvenes, centrándose en la cobertura de la salud y la comunidad en la ciudad de Richmond, California. El proyecto es apoyado por The California Endowment.

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