By Vicki Prichard
NKyTribune reporter
Children, Inc. will present Patrick Hughes, partner at DBL Law, with the 2016 Charity in Action Award at Raising of the Green.
The presentation will take place Saturday, March 19, at the Newport Syndicate, during the annual gala to support the organization’s work with local low-income families.
“Patrick Hughes’s commitment to our region, especially young children, is one to be admired,” says, Rick Hulefeld, executive director of Children, Inc.
Children’s Inc. provides high quality, readily accessible child care, preschool and school-aged education programs with an emphasis on family success.
While Hughes’s passion and enthusiasm for education is evident through his state and local advocacy efforts, his commitment to education, particularly Children, Inc., has much deeper, and more personal, roots.
Monica Hughes was seven years older than her brother Patrick when she began working at Children, Inc. as the director of the Cathedral Early Childhood Development Center in Covington. Hughes was still in high school at the time.
“She was a very social person,” says Hughes. “She loved people, and she decided she wanted to work with children. She had a true passion for it.”
She put her passion before economics.
Hughes said one day Brian Brinkmoeller, a single father with sole custody of his three young daughter’s showed up at Children, Inc. Brinkmoeller was working hard, and trying to find reliable childcare for his daughters.
Back then, in the early 1980s, there were no after school programs for children. He told Monica he needed to talk to somebody about bringing his girls there, but there was a problem — he really didn’t have any money.
“Without any real hesitation, she says, ‘We’ll work that out,’” says Hughes. “And that was really (Hulefeld’s) influence. Rick got involved in the conversation, and Monica told Brian, ‘Don’t worry about the money, bring your kids here. We’ll work it out. When you have the money just pay what you can.’”
And so began a friendship that would culminate in a single father’s commitment to pay forward the generosity bestowed upon him by Hughes and Children, Inc.
Monica and Brinkmoeller remained friends long after his daughters left Children, Inc. Years later, when the girls were attending St. Agnes School in Fort Wright, she continued to lend a helping hand when Brinkmoeller was unable to leave work in time to pick up his daughters from school. Hughes told him to have his daughters take the bus to her parents’ home.
“Monica did that with everybody — there was always somebody at our house. In hindsight, it was very cool,” says Hughes. “That kind of compassion was encouraged by Rick.”
Monica eventually married and had three sons within four years. Hughes describes her as always on the go.
On December 10th, 1995, he says, after a long day of Christmas shopping with their mother, Monica went home, told her family she was tired and went to bed.
“Her husband and three boys were downstairs, totally routine,” says Hughes. “She had a serious heart attack and didn’t survive. “That was very hard.”
She was just 33-years-old.
In 2005, Brinkmoeller, now a successful business owner, provided the seed money to establish the Monica Hughes Fund for Children, Inc. For the past three years, Hughes, along with Brinkmoeller, has served as the co-chair of the fund, to honor his sister.
“These funds are a true lifesaver for parents who are struggling to pay rent, food and childcare,” says Hulefeld. “For many of our families, expenses like car repairs can wreak havoc on their budgets and these funds allow families to keep their children in high quality care even when they are struggling to make ends meet.”
In working with the campaign, Hughes says he learned about Hulefeld’s science and methods regarding brain development.
“It’s pretty amazing stuff and it’s persuasive,” says Hughes. “Not only does Rick have a good message but he’s a really good messenger. I kept working with them.”
When they reached out to Hughes about being this year’s honoree for the Raising of the Green, he was a bit intimidated.
“I know firsthand there are a whole list of people who have done far more than I have because I saw the checks they were writing and their activity levels,” says Hughes. “There are people on that board that give hours upon hours of their time.”
But, he says, it all comes back to his sister.
“As you reflect upon how you get to a certain place it all comes back to Monica’s story,” says Hughes. “It was her passion — compassion — that set all of these events in motion.”
Each year, Children, Inc. serves thousands of families, approximately half of which are low income households.
Funds raised enable the organization to provide tuition assistance to families for child care, and to offer scholarships for parents seeking postsecondary education and training to become self-sufficient and find gainful employment.
Raising of the Green is a black tie optional dinner gala with live and silent auctions and an after-party that includes gaming tables, music, and hors d’ oeuvres.
Tickets to Raising of the Green are limited and the event typically sells out. Ticket prices are $125 (gala and after party) $45 (after party) and $100(gala only). Sponsorships are available as well.
The Newport Syndicate is located at 18 E. Fifth Street in Newport. The event runs from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. with after party from 9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.
Reservations can be made here .
Contact Vicki Prichard at vicki@nkytrib.com