VIP CARNIVAL

Put on by the Hawk foundation and zionsville lions club

BY PAUL DREIER PHOTOS BY: MELANIE REINHART

The VIP Carnival is one of our favorite events of the year. It is so heartwarming to watch the community come together to support each other. We are thankful that the Hawk Foundation and the Zionsville Lions Club put on this event each year. Our family always looks forward to it. How did this get started, you ask? It all started when Leigh Ann Akard, a fellow Zionsville Lions Club member, came to me and asked, “Hey Paul, you are into volunteering for Special Olympics and other events for children with special needs, aren’t you?” She said she had an idea and asked me and a few others to help. The idea was generated around the fact that the first night of the Lions Club Fall Festival in Zionsville was a bit slow, so could we use that time to help others? The plan was to invite some of the Lions members who had children with special needs to bring their families to the park and enjoy the rides, games and dinner for free.

That first event brought in seven families (38 people). We fed them, got the carnival ride owners to allow them to ride the rides for free, and some of us put up money so the children could play the carnival games for free. The next year, we decided to try it again. This time we asked the previous year’s attendees to invite two more families each — none of whom were Lions Club members. That turned out to be a 98-person event. Each year we did the same, and it grew! First more than 300 people, then more than 600, then more than 1,000 ... until this year, when we had a minimum of 1,900 attendees. And still, all those people eat for free (thanks to Chik-filet at the Pyramids and the Zionsville Lions Club), ride for free (thanks to Poor Jack’s Carnivals) and each child receives $5 to play games (thanks to continued donations from private individuals). All the families have to do is get to the event!

Out of this event came the VIP Christmas. Same idea, different date and more volunteers, but not all Lions — just neighbors from the Village of Zionsville who wanted to do good. That group created the VIP Christmas, VIP Luau and VIP Kite Day. They also created The HAWK Foundation (HAWK equals “helping all with kindness”), an NFP whose goal is to keep the spirit of giving alive all year long for families who have members with special needs. Now the group works with the Lions and helps fund the VIP Carnival too.

By our count, this idea from the Zionsville Lions Club has served over 22,000 family members in the 15 years since the first VIP Carnival. That number grows to over 30,000 when you add in the HAWK Foundation efforts.

To learn more about upcoming events, you can check out the Hawk Foundation here: https://www. thehawkfoundation.org/.