The Auburn Tourism Commission, sponsor of the Auburn Christmas Parade, has raised well over $7,000 for the Shriners Hospitals for Children over the past five years. The Auburn Tourism Commission adopted the Shriners as their charitable organization to work toward making an annual contribution in conjunction with the Auburn Christmas Parade. Many businesses allow donation cans to be on display in their business for those wishing to drop their change in as a donation to the Shriners.
"Each year, we have set our goal and have mastered it," says Jana Hanks of the Commission. "We always hope to give each year more than the previous year. The pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters really add up. And then there are many people of Auburn who faithfully write their check each year in loving support."
The Auburn Christmas Parade would not be the same without the Shriners clowns and their funny vehicles. These guys come out in numbers and and have been very supportive of Auburn. In return, Auburn residents look forward to seeing the Shrine Clubs from miles around turn out for the small town parade.
The Shriners are such a wonderful group of people and they are very dedicated to helping orthopaedically impaired and burned children. It has been decided that the donation cans will be left out all year to collect donations for the Shriners and hopefully this year will be a record giving year.
C.K. and Jana Hanks were the Auburn couple that mentioned several years ago that the parade needed a charity. Their cousin, Fred Tate, Rizpah Shriner and former Potentate, had talked to them about the Shriners on several occasions. After hearing all about them and the care that the hospitals give to children, it was unanimous that the Auburn Tourism Commission would support the Shriners Hospitals for Children as their philanthropy. Each year following the Auburn Christmas Parade, Hanks Construction Company is the site in which all Shriners and their spouses are treated to lunch. Jimmy Hughes of Auburn is the master chef of a beans and cornbread lunch
As an extension to the support of the Hanks family for the Shriners, Laura Hanks, a junior at the University of Kentucky, is an active volunteer at the Lexington hospital. She serves as an Event Coordinator and helps plan and organize the events held at the Lexington location. She loves going there every week and says this is the part of the week that gets her through. She is involved in holiday parties for the patients.
C.K. and Jana always go up to Lexington for the Christmas party at the Shriners Hospital where Mr. and Mrs. Santa arrive on a horse-drawn sleigh and bring gifts to the patients.
Then, a Brother/Sister TEAMing on "Shriners Laps of Love" in 2003 involved Laura and Keeton Hanks. Laura planned a 3-day event involving the Shriners Hospitals for Children as part of the Emerging Leadership Institute at the University of Kentucky. Keeton was involved in that since the family spends much of their time at race tracks throughout, it was decided that this project would be held at a race track. This event was months in the making and involved the entire Hanks family. Two racetracks, one in Tennessee and one in Indiana and coordinated, collected money from the race fans. The enthusiasm was over-whelming from everyone involved. The drivers all had event tee shirts and carried around buckets asking for donations for Shriners. This event raised well over $2,200. for the Shriners Hospital for Children.
Laura received the Gold Book Society Award through the Donor Recognition Program on behalf of the Shriners Hospitals for Children in Tampa, Florida. Log onto www.keetonhanksracing.com and see more about the Laps of Love project.
Another event that the Hanks family has been involved in with the Shriners is "Keeton Hanks Racing Day", in which they pull the trailer with the race cars to Lexington and Keeton sets up a display under the awning at the hospital for the patients to see. The staff brings the patients outside, some in hospital beds and some in wheelchairs. Their eyes light up when they see the race cars and are amazed that a kid is the driver.
For those that are able, they climb into the race cars and get a "need for speed". They all love it when Keeton fires up the engines. Keeton hands out checkered flags and photo cards to the patients and they have their picture made in the cars.
The Hanks family continues to support the Shriners Hospital for Children and challenges everyone to make a donation now. You may drop it by Auburn City Hall or Hanks Construction Company or in the donation cans around town.
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