Loved ones keep Jared’s Golden Heart alive

PHOTO PROVIDED
Jared Hopkins died in October 2023. His family members and friends began a foundation as he requested. Jared’s Golden Heart is a 501c3 nonprofit which helps children who are fighting cancer and their families at local hospitals.

By CHRISTINA McCUNE
BGNN managing editor

DOYLESTOWN When it came time to put a name to the foundation that their son and brother had wanted them to establish after he passed away, the title came easily: Jared’s Golden Heart.

“He had a heart of gold,” said his mom, Ann Hopkins, of Doylestown.

Jared Hopkins would have graduated from high school this spring. He died Oct. 24, 2023. Now, his loved ones are keeping his memory and spirit alive by working to help offer some comfort and support to young patients and their families in local hospitals.

Family members and friends are working to spread the word and grow the 501c3 nonprofit in Jared’s name. The Chippewa High School student was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in September 2022. Originally, he often told his family that when he made it to remission, he was going to establish a foundation to help the other kids who were in the hospital fighting cancer. He was cheered and helped by donations while he was fighting cancer in the hospital.

In a letter the organization makes available introducing Jared’s Golden Heart Foundation, Hannah Merrick, Jared’s sister and president of the foundation writes: “With Jared’s passing, we have found ourselves struggling to figure out how to live without his smile, his laughter, and his drive to help others. We decided there would be no better way to feel close to him than to start the foundation that he so desperately wanted to create.”

Thanks to a small start-up grant from Wishes Can Happen, the family began Jared’s Golden Heart Foundation in December 2023. They were able to provide 12 Akron Children’s Hospital cancer floor inpatients with Target gift cards for Christmas. In April, they became a 501c3 foundation. They plan to continue to help patients and their families at Akron Children’s Hospital who are battling cancer. They also want to branch out and help patients at other hospitals in Ohio.
The quiet 16-year-old had been healthy throughout his childhood and was going about his life getting through high school, working on getting his driver’s license and starting a mobile car detailing business.

“Then one day his whole life changed with just one little word: cancer,” Ann Hopkins shared in an email. She said he was diagnosed Sept. 15, 2022. “This was a major shock to our family.”
Aggressive chemotherapy began right away. That night, they were admitted into Akron Children’s Hospital hematology unit to begin treatment the next day.

Jared went through many rounds of chemo, spinal taps, bone marrow biopsies and more. He underwent radiation and high dose chemo to get his body ready for a bone marrow transplant Aug. 16, 2023. He fought for 69 days after his bone marrow transplant but unfortunately passed away Oct. 24, 2023. He was 17.

“Jared made us promise that we would start a childhood cancer foundation to help other kids and families if he didn’t get to make it home,” Ann Hopkins shared in the email. “We immediately started the foundation and kept our promise to him. We now help families on the hematology floor at Akron Childrens’ Hospital. We do holiday gift bags, National Turtle Day (Jared always used to say slow and steady wins the race like the turtles) and we go all out for National Childhood Cancer Month! We normally get toys, crafts, coloring books and “big kid cards” (gift cards).”

After particularly difficult and painful procedures and tests, when he had received a gift card, which he called a “big boy” card, his comfort purchases included blankets and candy. His family said people got a laugh when he called them that. He purchased Runts candy in bulk – 5-pound bags of the little banana candies, specifically.

“He always made you laugh no matter what,” Hopkins said. “He was a trooper and he stole the hearts of everybody on that floor.”

Anyone is welcome to donate by mailing donations to Jared’s Golden Heart, PO Box 131, Doylestown, OH 44230, or making a donation at a PNC branch or by sending a donation via Venmo @Jaredsgoldenheart. All proceeds go back into the foundation.
Ann Hopkins taught both of her children to have good heads on their shoulders.

“Nothing comes free, you have to work for it,” she told them.

And it helped to find a job they loved. Jared Hopkins discovered he had a knack for car detailing. He was serious about it and learned tips from watching YouTube videos. He also found he was meeting a need by detailing vehicles at people’s homes. He hoped to continue to grow what he was doing into a business and he also had a job lined up at a local repair shop.

“He had a whole list of clientele,” Merrick said.

As one can imagine, when he got his first car – a Chevy Cruz – he made sure it was immaculate. He washed it every day and cleaned it out every day. He made payments on it until he got sick.
Merrick said he enjoyed spending time with his young nephews – her two sons.

“He was a part of their everyday life,” she said.

Merrick and her mom remember Jared as being quiet and a homebody. He enjoyed sitting and talking. He would help neighbors if they needed work done around the house and he would help mow their yards.

Merrick recalled fondly when she was looking for a new car and not taking the next step and her brother finally took the leap and got it for her. She remembered the next day calling off work and they went to the beach. She has fond memories of them doing that a couple of times before her brother got sick.

“I never ever would have imagined how many children had cancer until we became a cancer family,” Hopkins said.

Merrick said the organization does gift bags at holidays, and they offer crafts, coloring books, and gift cards for children. They fill a toy chest box in the outpatient clinic a couple of times a year with toys for the cancer kids to pick from when they’re done with appointments. “Eventually we’d like to get to the point to help people pay utilities if they need it,” Merrick said.

Merrick serves as president on the board of the foundation and Ann Hopkins is vice president. Other members on the board include Sharla McComas, Jared’s aunt who serves as treasurer, Nikki Doulilis, lifelong family friend who is the secretary, and other friends and board members are Alisa Harris and Moira Hodgman.

Jared’s favorite hobby was trap shooting. Merrick said a fundraiser they may like to do in the spring would include a trap shooting competition. Facebook followers can join “Jared’s Golden Heart Foundation” for more information about the organization, how to help and upcoming fundraisers.