Giving Tuesday: Honoring Halle, Building Community, and Giving Back
- Jillian Heilman
- Nov 26
- 5 min read
Giving Tuesday is almost upon us, which means it's officially time to channel your inner Halle and spread joy like it’s your superpower. If you ever got a Halle Hug, you know her kindness could flip an entire day around. She believed tiny acts of compassion could ripple out and change the world, and honestly....she was onto something there. This week on Strength Happens, Janine and I talked about the heart behind the Halle Grace Foundation and other incredible organizations doing beautiful, life-changing work. And because this mission has grown way beyond the two of us, we're bringing the whole joyful conversation here. Because it isn't just our mission. Its a community movement with Halle's sparkle all over it!
Honoring Halle’s Legacy Through Purpose
The Halle Grace Foundation was created to honor the legacy of my oldest daughter, Halle Grace. She was a girl whose courage, joy, and spunk continue to inspire everything I do in life. If you knew Halle, you knew her joy. You knew her love to dance. You knew her appreciation for all things that sparkle. And you knew her hugs!
Halle gave the kind of hugs that wrapped around and stayed with you long after she let go. Everyone wanted a "Halle Hug"...the kind of embrace that made you feel special. Those hugs are still part of her legacy, a reminder of the way she moved through life: with joy, love, and a bit of pep to her step.
Our mission continues in that spirit. We educate medical professionals, support families of children with chronic illnesses, and empower young people to lead with compassion and resilience.We do this work through three core pillars:
1. Educating Medical Professionals and Future Clinicians
Halle experienced firsthand what compassionate, human-centered care could look like and what happens when it’s missing. She also experienced medical professionals who did it right! The ones who saw her, listened to her, and who cared for her as if she were their own child. Those are the moments we want to multiply.
We want her story to help shape better care for kids everywhere. We partner with medical programs, clinicians, and pre-professionals to teach communication skills, empathy, and the real human side of patient care. These aren’t just lectures, these are lived experiences, kids' perspectives, and the voices of families navigating medically complex journeys.
2. Supporting Families of Medically Complex Kiddos
Raising medically complex kids is beautiful, exhausting, joyful, complicated, and often incredibly lonely. The Halle Grace Foundation exists to remind families that they are not alone. We are working to offer them a sense of community.
Our podcast, Strength Happens, is one way we create that connection, sharing stories of resilience, grief, laughter, and the strength that comes from vulnerability. Whether a family is newly diagnosed or years into their journey, we want them to know: You are not walking this path alone. Families deserve connection. They deserve support. And they deserve a community that understands their journey without needing every detail explained.
3. Empowering Young People to Use Their Voices
Kids living with chronic illness have powerful stories and powerful perspectives, yet they are too often overlooked. The Halle Grace Foundation helps to amplify their voices and remind the world that despite the medical labels, they are still kids...kids who deserve joy, normalcy, and a childhood filled with moments that feel magical.
One of our favorite ways to do this is our Annual Toy Drive on June 2nd, now reaching children in four states, with additional holiday contributions to local hospitals and clinics. The smiles these gifts bring remind us of Halle’s joy and the importance of letting kids simply be kids, especially during the holiday season.
Organizations Close to Our Hearts
In addition to the Halle Grace Foundation, we support several nonprofits that have played meaningful roles in our families' lives.
All three of my children are wish kids. Make-A-Wish gave our family moments of joy and hope during times we desperately needed a break from the medical world.
Halle’s wish, at just 3½, was to meet Cinderella—and she did, with the brightest smile. She became a princess for the day and even had a dance with Prince Charming!
B’s wish, at age 6, was to build something at Legoland Florida that would stay there forever. Today, their wishing well and tiny figurine still live in Miniland.
Neeley’s wish, at 15, took her all the way to Amsterdam, where she photographed tulips in their natural setting. Something she had dreamed of for years.
These experiences weren’t just trips. They were lifelines. They were reminders that childhood magic still existed.
Janine supports the Arthritis Foundation because her daughter Morgan lives with arthritis daily - yes, kids get arthritis too! Morgan was the kid representative for the Jingle Bell Run in 2015 and we are still supporting their efforts. I also support the arthritis foundation annually to honor Kelley and Elizabeth, Tracey Corn’s daughters, who were both diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis in their youth. Their annual Jingle Bell Run with Team All in the Family is a fun, annual event to raise money with purpose and cheer on a cure for arthritis!
Camp Boggy Creek exists to ensure that every child with a serious medical conditions gets the chance to experience the joy, freedom, and connection of camp. All three of my kiddos were able to participate in camp at Boggy Creek. These were weeks and weekends were truly treasured. Janine and her family were able to participate in the family weekends at Boggy - offering ALL her kids a chance to have fun and that their family was not alone. Each of our kids had a the rare chance to set aside their medical challenges, feel completely included, and focus on simply being a kid.
Why Giving Tuesday Matters
Giving Tuesday isn’t just about donations, it’s about kindness, connection, and believing that our small contributions add up to something bigger than ourselves. Whether you support the Halle Grace Foundation, the organizations we featured today, or a cause close to your own heart, your generosity makes a real impact. Every dollar. Every act of kindness. Every moment of choosing compassion. It all matters.
And if you do nothing else today --- give someone a Halle Hug! Give a hug that feels warm, safe, joyful, and full of love.
So whether you give of your time, talents, treasures, or simply share a Halle Hug, it all matters. It all adds up. And it all makes this world a little bit kinder...just like she did.
Comments