Doing Right Spotlight Scholarship: Kevin Bishop
Tom Cole, Kevin Bishop, Terry Crosby
Kevin Bishop, on behalf of Taylor Automotive
A mantra I have lived by is “leave it better than you found it”. The time I did something extraordinary for the benefit of my community and the future of humankind was in 2017 when I was a freshman at Central Catholic High School. I created a student-run philanthropy organization called IrishTHON, a fundraiser dance marathon that raises money for the kids at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. I had the vision for high school teens to become more involved in the outside community and make an impact on The City of Toledo. It seemed like there was a void with youth being involved in philanthropy or feeling that they could have a significant impact on others' lives at such a young age. I knew that with hard work, teamwork, perseverance and dedication, that creating an organization like IrishTHON was essential to the community.
After about a year of planning very precise details and overcoming a few roadblocks, we had our first IrishTHON in 2019. We had over 100 student participants and raised over $4,600. Our second year in 2020 we had over 200 student participants and raised over $10,000. Finally, in 2021 during the third year of the event, we had over 215 student participants and raised over $20,000.
This experience had a significant impact on the children at the hospital because it helped assist families in their greatest time of need. The funds raised helped cover a wide variety of things to meet the needs of individual patients and families. This included treatment cost, medical equipment at the hospital, medical supplies for home, toy rooms at the hospital to keep the children busy and active even during treatment and more. Personally, I was greatly impacted because I got to see firsthand and hear stories how the funds, we raised changed the lives of the children and their families. In their words, we were giving them hope and a second chance at life.
