The Lesley and Evelyn Holmes Foundation

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Happy Founder’s Day

Each year the Lesley and Evelyn Holmes Foundation celebrates Founder’s Day on July 14. The festive nature of the day includes a barbecue, fellowship, uplifting music, and other fun activities. While this day is now synonymous with celebration, its origin did not leave the founders with a celebratory feeling.

Mr. & Mrs. Holmes faithfully served their community and were very active in their church. On September 2, 2012, Mrs. Holmes was called from labor to reward and her church, in partnership with her daughter established a scholarship, which they called The Evelyn Holmes Scholarship. Mr. Holmes continued to work dutifully until he too was reunited with his Savior on May 23, 2016. At this time, the church amended the scholarship and called it the Lesley and Evelyn Holmes Scholarship.

On July 1, 2018, the pastor of their church retired and the new pastor coming in decided to do away with the scholarship. Being that Mr. and Mrs. Holmes were my grandparents, it hurt me to my core that someone could refuse to honor their lives in that manner. Seeing how much it saddened my mother, I spoke with my cousin and one of my best friends. The three of us came up with a way for permanently honoring their lives. On July 14, 2018, I, Dr. Winfred Wills, III; my cousin who is Mrs. Holmes’ niece, Taylor Downing, and my best friend, Jason Wise formed a Board of Directors. With $300 between the 3 of us, we formally established The Lesley and Evelyn Holmes Foundation. That summer we sold lollipops to raise the funds and on September 27, 2018, which would have been Mr. Holmes’ 89th birthday, a scholarship was awarded to Mr. Sean Van During.

The evening that the scholarship was awarded, I showed the website created in their honor to my mother. With tears of joy in her eyes, she smiled and what she told me resounds in my ears today as I run with zeal the organization dedicated to my maternal grandparents. She said “You have restored what I feared was permanently lost.” Embracing her tightly, I made her a promise that my grandparents’ legacy will NEVER be lost. For nothing loved is EVER lost and they were loved SO MUCH!