EASTON, Md. -- A Denton-based support group for fathers gathered in Easton Saturday to posthumously award "Father of the Year" to a father who died from carbon monoxide poisoning along with his seven children in April.

Bonnie Edwards, the mother of Rodney Todd, accepted the award on behalf of her late son at Idlewild Park in Easton where the ceremony was held.

"I appreciate someone thought enough of my son and cared enough to put on not just for him but for dads in general," said Edwards. "They thought enough of him and the struggle that he went through to take care of his kids."

The support group Dads Aiming and Determined to Support, otherwise known as DADS, presented the award. The organization is a partnership between the Caroline County Department of Social Services and local businesses to provide resources to fathers struggling to support their children.

It's been close to four months since the bodies of Rodney Todd and his seven children were found inside their Princess Anne home on April 6.

Todd's electricity had been shut off by Delmarva Power so he bought a generator to keep his children warm.

That generator would later cause their untimely deaths.

Spokesperson for DADS Anthony Dickerson told WBOC the posthumous award was not all what was done for Todd.

"We renamed our award the Rodney Todd Father of the Year award," said Dickerson. "This is a special event that we're having in his honor."

Also at the ceremony was New York-based author Alicia Crowe who wrote a self-help book for fathers working to support their children.

Crowe says she felt compelled to meet Todd's mother and family.

"Here's a father with all these children and he was doing the best he could to provide for his children. That, in and of itself, was a feat that's very difficult," said Crowe.

One in three children grow up without a father in the U.S., and in the African American community it is two out of every three children, according to Fatherhood.org.