Community Corner
VIDEO: Local Woman's Giving Spirit Inspires Friends to Hold Cancer Benefit
Playing off Eileen Hawke's love of cruises, the Aug. 5 event will be a party to support the Frankfort resident's battle with ovarian cancer.
The SS Eileen benefit party idea started when Eileen Hawke's daughter, Jenny, wanted to do something as a tribute to her mom.
"Eileen kind of stays behind the scenes, and yet at times she gets really down (with this illness). Jenny wanted her mom to know about all the people that are out there that care for her," said Renee Matlock, a family friend and one of the organizers of the event.
Hawke's battle started in November 2009, when she was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. By June 2010, she got the all clear after undergoing surgery and intensive chemotherapy. But at a checkup in March, Hawke was told the cancer had returned, and she is once again living through regular chemo treatments, hoping to be cancer-free by fall.
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Yet this hasn't taken away her giving spirit. In talking with friends and fellow volunteers, it is clear that Hawke, a Frankfort resident who owns with her husband, Ken, has refused to let her illness prevent her from doing what she's always done--help those in need, whether in her family, her circle of friends, her church or her community.
"If someone is ill, Eileen is the first person at their house," said friend and Frankfort Village Board trustee Cindy Heath.
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"The thing that gives her greater joy than anything else is helping other people. And she does it all the time. And she does it quietly," Heath added.
Jim Rinke, a family friend from New Lenox, told of being taken to the emergency room a few months ago. One call to Hawke, and she was at the hospital within the hour, picking up daughter Kylee so that his wife, Wendy, could stay by his side.
Sam Schoeler met Hawke when she started volunteering with Frankfort's Fall Festival.
"She and Ken were probably our first friends at Fall Fest," Schoeler said.
When Schoeler's husband died suddenly a few years ago, Hawke was the one who continued to call and visit after things quieted down and everyone else's life went back to normal after the funeral.
"She helped me so much," Schoeler said.
Schoeler added that any attention will probably give Hawke "the cringies" because she is such a private person. And yet the overwhelming outpouring of enthusiasm for the benefit party shows how much her community wants to let her know that she is loved and appreciated.
"I've had the pleasure of working with Eileen many times ... either through the Frankfort Chamber of Commerce or through Frankfort Preservation Foundation. She loves behind the scenes stuff ... never wanting to be singled out and recognized," said longtime friend Janet Vinke.
Yet Vinke, like others in the community who respect how much Hawke has given and continues to give of herself, wants to give credit where credit is due.
"Eileen doesn't deserve cancer ... but her response to the disease is an testament to her courage, resilience and fortitude. Thank you, Eileen, for being you! I am a better person because you came into my life," Vinke said.
SS Eileen Benefit Party for Eileen Hawke
Where: , 20 Kansas St.
When: 6-9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 5
Cost: $15 per person in advance or at the door.
Other details: The event will celebrate life with Eileen and help raise funds to offset medical costs. There will be a silent/live auction, a cash bar, appetizers and cruised-themed activities and entertainment. Caribbean cruise attire is optional. Children are welcome.
More info: Call 815-469-3879 for tickets or go to the event's website.
