The Petal School District has long prided itself on its motto of “Hometown Values, Global Vision.”
That maxim certainly shone through Thursday night, when the community showed up to a barbeque dinner fundraiser and raised approximately $6,000 for medical and travel expenses for Lance Hillman, who was seriously injured in a May automobile accident.
The dinner, which was organized by Petal High School baseball coach Shane Kelly and Pearl River Community College baseball coach Michael Avalon, was held in the parking lot of the Petal High School fieldhouse and offered barbeque plate dinners for $10 each, with all proceeds going to the Hillmans.
“Coach Kelly and his baseball team really took this on as a service project to give back to one of their own,” said Matt Dillon, superintendent of the Petal School District. “We had a great turnout. Somebody sent me a picture of the line, because I was a little later getting there, and I thought ‘this is what hometown values is all about’, because the line went all the out in the parking lot.”
Hillman, who was left in a coma for more than two weeks after the accident, is currently undergoing therapy at Methodist Rehabilitation in Jackson.
Although the Hillmans live in Richton, Lance’s wife, Sharon Hillman is a teacher in the Petal School District. The couple has two sons – Cade, 16, and Garrett, 14 – who attend school in Petal. Cade plays football and baseball for Petal, while Garrett is active in football, soccer and showchoir.
“It’s going to be a long recovery process, and we want to be there with that family along the way,” Dillon said. “They have two students in our district, and we want to be there not just in the here and now, but as the days go on.”
Lance Hillman’s sister, Kelly Avalon Hawkins, also is raising funds by selling T-shirts on her Facebook page. The shirts can be purchased for $15 each at www.facebook.com/kellyavalonhawkins.
