In the name of love: How the Eli Hill Foundation has turned tragedy into triumph

Eli Hill

In March of 2023, the world suddenly seemed like a darker place after news began to spread around the Corbin community of the tragic death of 8-year-old Eli Hill, who suffered fatal injuries when a basketball goal located outside his home fell on top of him.

The entire community found itself in shock and disbelief, with the Corbin Primary School student being well-known as a youth athlete competing in a variety of sports leagues, baseball being his personal favorite. Truly, Hill’s untimely passing seemed like something that could only ever be viewed as a tragedy, but in a miraculous show of strength, faith and perseverance, his parents have since found a way to inspire people not just in Corbin, but across the entire state, and even other parts of the country, by establishing the Eli Hill Foundation.

“For the first three months, I barely even remember anything,” said Hill’s mother, Ashley, of the period of time immediately following her son’s death. “We were sort of like zombies, and in a shocked state. The one thing that we did talk about, though, was the fear of him being forgotten.”

“We thought about what we could do,” Hill continued. “We ended up starting the foundation, and people just started reaching out to us and making donations. We really couldn’t tell them at the time what we would do with their money, but we were able to raise a lot of money for various causes.”

Most recently, the Eli Hill Foundation was able to make an incredible $18,000 donation to the Corbin Community Backpack program, which assists students in the tri-county area dealing with food insecurity issues at home.

“Eli loved snacks,” Ashley Hill said when asked about the donation. “So, we decided to make that donation, and to add in some bags containing a few of his favorite snack items. We hope that this will become an ongoing partnership.”

Hill said that her husband, Adam, came up with an idea not long after the foundation was established to award a “Teammate of the Year” scholarship for local high school student-athletes who most exhibit certain qualities on the court or field.

“Eli wasn’t always the top talent, but he was the best teammate,” Ashley explained. “He was encouraging, kept people laughing, and was always willing to play any position. We contacted some coaches, and worked with them to award this scholarship. We have given out two already, with more coming soon.”

Ashley Hill said that “Teammate of the Year” award recipients each receive $1,018. The reason behind this is that her son’s jersey number was 18, and while the $1,000 is to be used for school expenses, the additional $18 is to be used to perform some sort of a good deed for another person.

“We like to encourage that, because we thought it would be a good way for others to help spread some of Eli’s kindness,” said Hill.

In addition to the already mentioned contributions, funds from the Eli Hill Foundation have also gone to help pay for travel expenses and food costs for a local family who found themselves having to travel a lot so that a sick child could receive chemo treatments. The foundation also helped provide meals to the needy for Thanksgiving, and it recently helped provide gifts to children in the area who might not have otherwise been able to receive one for Christmas.

“What we have found is that people are placed in our lives at the exact moment that they are supposed to be,” Ashley Hill said. “We are Christians, and we believe that God puts people and situations in our lives at the right time so that we can help.”

“We want to remain faithful in helping those deserving people,” Hill added. “And being in those places where we can help to fill a void for someone. We want to use the money in ways that we think Eli would appreciate, and honor the love that he had for people.”

To receive news and information regarding the Eli Hill Foundation in the future, Ashley Hill encourages everyone to follow along with the official page on Facebook. For anyone who would be interested in making a financial contribution to the foundation, that can be done through PayPal using the address Elihillfoundationinc@gmail.com or through Venmo by using @EliHillFoundation.

Checks can be mailed to Eli Hill Foundation, Inc. at P.O. Box 400, Corbin, KY 40702.