The Hitting Hearts Foundation has a special place in the heart of Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad, who presented a $1,000 check to the local nonprofit organization Monday at City Hall.
It is the second consecutive year that Hitting Hearts was the recipient of $1,000 that Blad raised by participating in the annual Mayor’s Walking Challenge orchestrated by the Blue Cross Idaho Foundation for Health.
Hitting Hearts serves special-needs children and was founded by Christian Colonel, Highland High School’s varsity baseball coach and the school’s special needs teacher.
Each Idaho mayor who walks an average of 10,000 steps per day in the month of October receives a $1,000 donation from Blue Cross to use on a school or park endeavor.
Blad’s funding from the 2018 Blue Cross challenge will help Hitting Hearts purchase adaptive physical education equipment for Highland High School’s special-needs students. Blad’s funding from the 2017 Blue Cross challenge was used for the same cause last year, but for Pocatello High School.
“As we gave them the equipment last year, just watching the smiles on their faces and seeing how they interacted with the equipment and with each other and watching them, it made a world of difference to me,” Blad said. “This year, I understand it a lot more and the impact it will make on the lives of these people … so this year it does hit me a little bit closer to my heart. It’s a big deal to people.”
Hitting Hearts plans to purchase the same kind of equipment for Century High School in the next school year with the help of funding Blad earned from this past October’s Blue Cross mayoral challenge.
“Christian has committed to working with all three high schools and working with the special needs in all three high schools,” Blad said. “It’s a great opportunity to give to a demographic that sometimes gets overlooked because we just put regular equipment and regular playground equipment stuff out there.”
Colonel said examples of adoptive equipment are safer wiffle balls to play baseball and shorter basketball hoops.
“There needs to be a gap filled for their fitness and their health and this will bridge the gap with this donation from the mayor,” Colonel said. “It’s basically equipment that we can help level the playing field for kids that have challenges. Certain equipment. Certain jump ropes. It’s a lot of equipment to help them and to assist them that they’re able to use.”
Hitting Hearts has been serving special-needs children for five years.
Colonel said the foundation earned non-profit status this past summer. In the process of serving special-needs kids, it has not only provided equipment but has assisted School District 25 special-needs students on prom nights with limo rides, dinners and other costs.
Colonel is happy to continue to have Hitting Hearts find new ways to help special-needs children, such as raising funds for events specifically tailored to them in the future.
Colonel said the least he can do is be an advocate for that group, as the families have to be 24/7.
“It can be exhausting for families and I understand that, and so I feel like somebody outside of their family needs to also be an advocate for them and these kids; they’re just amazing,” Colonel said. “They battle day in and day out with simple things that I don’t understand how they do it. It’s tough. They get to battle and they’re so grateful and nothing fazes them.”
People can donate or send inquiries to hittinghearts@gmail.com and visit the Hitting Hearts Facebook page.