By Dawn Pearson
The HAWK Foundation is a newly created non-for-profit philanthropy in town, and it stands for Helping All With Kindness. It flew out of an event last year that raised enough funds to purchase a new van for a special needs child, Hawk Trimmer, now 13, and his mother Brenda Trimmer.
Every year a group of local volunteers create a special event called the VIP Christmas. The event, curated by Leigh Ann Akard, is focused on families who have children and members with special needs.
The mission of the HAWK Foundation is “’Helping All With Kindness’ to provide free seasonal events specifically for families who have members with special needs. These ‘giving events’ will culminate and insure that the spirit of giving found at Christmas lasts all year long.
According to Akard, Hawk’s wish to help his mom by getting her a new van was a touching moment for everyone who heard about it.
“We rounded up our resources and made a Christmas wish come true,” Akard said. “In just two weeks the entire community gathered around Santa (played by Jeff Collins, of Zionsville) and the family of this special little boy. The goal was to make their life easier and worries less by creating a Christmas miracle.”
Before that the family had no way to get Hawk to his doctor appointments.
The results made national news and showed the Christmas Spirit that shines in the little village of Zionsville.
“From this incredible project a group of Santa’s elves created the HAWK Foundation,” Akard said. “What we wanted to do when we realized that we could grant the wish, was to be able to do this all year long, so we organized and formed the foundation. Our inspiration, why is Christmas just one day a year, for special needs Santa lives, why can’t we grant wishes for children throughout the year and make their life a little easier and their worries a little less.”
To this day, Akard said that the foundation is growing.
“Customers were coming in the True Value Hardware Store (Akard’s business) and asking how they could help. What we found with the Christmas wish was that some people had money to give, some gave of their time and some people wanted to give of their talents,” Akard said. “People love to give and want to give but sometimes they don’t know how and where to give and we need other things then just money.”
Akard said she believes the coolest thing that has come out of all of this, and the whole crux of it, is that everyone one involved is blessed. “The givers and the receivers were blessed; everyone felt good,” Akard said.
They don’t know what the next gift will be but the HAWK Foundation is looking for their next steps of random acts of kindness and generosity.
“We are like a flash mob,” Akard said. “But we are a flash mob of giving.”
All special needs families are invited to attend the annual VIP Christmas Festival from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Dec. 5, at the Hussey-Mayfield Library. For more information visit the website or e-mail Akard at [email protected].
