Christmas 2020
We took a baby step this year and hung up our holiday stockings above our fireplace in Carolina. Tyler's is there too. We are going to write him letters and place them inside his stocking. Lots of love, stories, and how he has inspired us to work hard to put good into this world and help others will be in his simple gray stocking. But Ty was anything but simple and gray - through our photos and posts we've wanted you to know him. Ty was funny, kind, faithful, loyal, fierce, loving, vibrant, a beautiful son, brother, and friend. And he sure loved sports, his teammates, and his coaches.
We miss him terribly and somehow the holidays make his absence much worse and so hard to navigate without hearing his laugh and making him his favorite sugar cookies. But, to paraphrase the words of "Love Actually" (one of his favorite movies), we feel his love all around us. That love, along with the love and support we've received from ALL of you, has helped us take steps we never thought possible.
Here we are just 30 days from the 3rd year of Tyler's passing, our third Christmas without him, and I don't know how we made it. Kelly and Ryan keep us committed to doing what we always did when Tyler was physically with us, loving on our sons, keeping them on a path of good and working to help them find their place in this world.
Through the hard moments, the foundation has seen a transformative year. During 2020, we became a Stuart Scott ENSPIRE ESPY Award Recipient, won an Emmy for Outstanding Sports Documentary, launched a podcast, hit $1 million in overall fundraising, launched a cohesive mental health program, and powered a successful first annual College Football Mental Health Awareness Week. We wouldn’t be here without those who generously join us by giving time, sharing our mission, and donating - we are deeply thankful for your support in reaching these major milestones.
We look forward to 2021, and reaching our new goals, including:
partnering with 25 universities
recruiting 50 CFB Mental Health Week participants
publishing 10 more UNIT3D episodes, and
raising $250k to reach more coaches, athletes, students, and families with messages of hope
Hilinski's Hope is doing a call for University Partners interested in bringing the H3H Game Plan to campus in 2021. The deadline for universities to let us know which package they are interested in is January 22, 2021. We are setting a deadline to prioritize universities that are able to financially contribute to support H3H - and we do have some scholarships available for universities that need financial assistance.
We haven't sent out a holiday card, put up a tree, strung up lights, or sent out gifts since Tyler passed. This year we changed that a bit and wanted to give all of you the gift of hope, because that is what you have given us. We planted over 33 trees in the state of Washington, along it's beautiful coast, and 33 more in California in Hilinski's Hope Grove.
The two states where Tyler lived. We plan to plant the gift of hope in all our states, as we've received very generous donations from folks in every one. It's our way of giving back to you for all you have given us.
We know Tyler would love this - little Ty would want to hang a holiday ornament on each one, and then somehow put a star on the top. We like to think that Tyler is the star on the top of each tree and that his light will continue to inspire all of us to be there for one another, to always be kind, to realize the stranger next to us isn't who they may appear to be, and that they have struggles and worries too.
Together we can make this world a better place.
With love and hope,
Kym and Mark Hilinski
and the Hilinski's Hope Team
