PHILANTHROPY After receiving, Poland family gives

Rachel Hawkins, 15, received a life-saving transplant in 2003 and is doing fine.
POLAND -- Kevin and Lynda Hawkins raised slightly over $24,000 last year for Make-A-Wish Foundation to show their gratitude for the Make-A-Wish trip to Hawaii the family received after their daughter, Rachel, was diagnosed with a rare liver disease in 2001.
Their goal in 2003 was to raise $5,000, the average cost of a Make-A-Wish trip, to replace the trip they took to Hawaii in March 2002.
Instead, the Hawkinses, including Erin, Rachel, Megan and Jacob, raised enough money to grant the wishes of four children, Nathan, Chandler, Melanie and James, to go to Disney World last summer.
Trying again
"We live among very kind and generous people. In our dreams we were hoping to grant just one wish. We should have known," they wrote in their 2004 letter to the community, again seeking funds for Make-A-Wish.
They are seeking pledges and walkers for this year's 12th annual Medical Mutual Walk for Wishes on Saturday at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children between the ages of 21/2 and 18 who have life-threatening diseases.
People can support the Hawkinses and Make-A-Wish in one of two ways:
Send a tax-deductible contribution (pledge) payable to Make-A-Wish Foundation to the Hawkinses, 6718 Sturbridge Place, Poland 44514; or send checks directly to Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northeast Ohio, 1422 Euclid Ave. Suite 239, Hanna Building, Cleveland 44115 with a note crediting the donation to the Hawkinses.
Or, people can join the Hawkins family in walking Satuday. People who want to participate can call the Hawkinses at (330) 757-8023.
Patient success
Rachel, now 15, received a life-saving liver transplant in 2003 and is doing great, Mrs. Hawkins said.
She has to have blood work every three months, and at her last checkup in December 2003 at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh she was told she did not have to come back for 12 months.
During her freshman year at Poland High School, Rachel went to her first high school dance and golfed with the high school team. She also resumed jazz and ballet dancing last fall, participating in a recital in June.
Rachel's summer plans include church camp, a family vacation at the beach, helping with a week of skits for Vacation Bible School, and being a counselor-in-training at a transplant camp in August.
She is also participating in a study being conducted by one of her surgeons at Children's Hospital to measure the effect of immunosuppression drugs on transplant patients' blood cells. The goal is to eventually get Rachel off anti-rejection medication, Mrs. Hawkins said.
alcorn@vindy.com