GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A set of 17-year-old twins recently came up with an idea to raise money for people living with disabilities. The two told 13 ON YOUR SIDE that this new project makes them feel like real-life superheroes.
“Everyone loves superheroes,” said Henry Pratt, co-founder of Hometown Heroes. It involves a group of high school students suiting up to share that love of superheroes all in support of a former substitute teacher.
“Well, we could see the way he gets around the school and how he struggled, and he always kept a positive attitude when he was walking around the school, and he just affected the community in a positive way,” said Henry.
Henry started Hometown Heroes with his twin brother, Will.
“We’ve been close our whole lives. We’re like best friends, basically,” said Henry. You’ll notice their resemblance, and the way they finish each other’s sentences.
Will said, “Yeah, everyone loved Mr. Parkes. When we had him as a substitute teacher everyone was smiling, everyone knew it was a good day because he would always” engage the class, his brother Henry added, helping his twin complete his thought.
Will jumped back in to say, “Yeah, he was amazing,” referring to their former substitute teacher. That former substitute is the inspiration behind the teens creating Hometown Heroes. Participants will volunteer to dress up as superheroes for your next party or work event.
“We just ask for a kind donation when we go, and we’ll have the smiling faces on,” said Will.
Henry completed his brother’s sentence, saying, “and cheer everyone up. We’ll have a good time and cheer everyone up in our costumes.”
“Any donation helps,” said Will.
Henry added, “Yeah, we’re willing to come no matter what the donation is.”
100% of donations will go to the Disability Advocates of Kent County (DAKC), where that former substitute teacher now works.
His name is Patrick Parkes and he’s the business development coordinator with DAKC. He said, “Accessibility can be an asset for anybody regardless of – disability or not.”
Parkes was born with cerebral palsy and told 13 ON YOUR SIDE, “I have really always had that connection to the disability community, and this is really the culmination of that now working professionally in that space advocating for other individuals with disabilities.”
He’s thankful that his time as a substitute teacher has led to this outreach.
“For them to reach out and want to support what we do here at Disability Advocates, it really means a lot,” said Parkes.
Will explained this is the way he’s best able to offer support because, “I’m in high school. I don’t have a lot of money. So, we were just brainstorming ways on how we could give back to them, what we could do to start up something that would give back to the community.”
The twins have recruited other students from their school, East Grand Rapids High School, including Axel Hammerschmidt, the other student shown in the video. The group’s first appearance happened at Beer City Dog Biscuits, a business that employs people with disabilities.
“Everyone there was really cheered up. Everyone in our group was smiling, having a great time. It was amazing,” said Will.
Henry added that, “We all dressed up and we cheered up all the workers at Beer City Dog Biscuits and they all loved that. They were taking photos with us, and they all thought we were the real superheroes, which we felt like we were at that time.”
“Our goal is by the end of our senior year – we’re juniors right now – we want to make $10,000 by the time we graduate,” said Will.
The students don’t touch any of the money. In fact, the DAKC has helped them create a QR code, which can be used to make a donation directly to the organization.
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