Race set to benefit orphaned youngsters

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Wednesday, March 30, 2005 | 10:47 a.m.

For more information call Kyriacou at VoTech at (702) 799-7500, ext. 4178 or to register online, go to www.active.com and enter "Roadrunners" in the event search engine.

A family of seven Clark County students recently orphaned by the sudden deaths of their parents is the motivation for a fund-raising 5K running race Saturday at VoTech High School.

VoTech junior Mike Hartwell, 17, and his six younger siblings, two of whom are legally blind, lost their ailing 50-year-old father, Benjamin Hawkins, shortly after Christmas. Their mother, Donna Hartwell, was also in poor health and died two weeks later at age 36.

Left behind were Mike and his siblings: Mary, 16; Dennis, 14; Leslie, 13; Christopher, 12; Devonna, 10; and Ladaysia, 8.

The family wasn't just left without parents. Soon after the mother's death the family was evicted from their subsidized home, and the seven children were split up among relatives.

"We're family, we've made room," said their aunt, Rhonda Hartwell, who added Mike Hartwell to her household of four children. "Everyone has stepped up when it counted."

That includes all of the children's schools, she said.

"Everyone has been so forthcoming," Rhonda Hartwell said. "We've seen a great deal of community spirit."

Mary is a sophomore at VoTech while Dennis is a freshman at Desert Pines High School. Leslie and Christopher are in the eighth and seventh grade respectively at West-Edison Middle School. Devonna is a fifth grader at Matt Kelly Elementary School and Ladaysia is in the second grade at Detweiler Elementary School.

"All of the kids do amazingly well," Rhonda Hartwell said. "They don't let anything hold them back."

Particularly Leslie and Devonna, who inherited their mother's cataract disease but haven't let that keep them from joining their brothers and sisters in making the honor roll, Rhonda Hartwell said.

But the family is still dealing with the deaths of their parents.

While both of his parents had been struggling with various medical conditions, their deaths were a shock, Mike Hartwell said.

"My dad had just gotten over the flu, if he was feeling really sick he kept it to himself," Hartwell said. "My mom, we weren't expecting that at all."

The "twin tragedies," as Hartwell's track coach, Tony Kyriacu, refers to the deaths, made Kyriacu and others at the school "want to help in any way we can to make keeping the kids together a little easier."

Kyriacu, who also teaches graphic design at the high school, organized the benefit 5K run that at VoTech to raise money for the Hartwells. The race will be Saturday.

Mike Hartwell, a two-time state qualifier in cross country who is also on the school's swim team, said he wasn't surprised by his coach's efforts.

"Coach is kinda predictable for being a nice guy," Hartwell said.

The VoTech Roadrunners Charity Classic 5K race will take place at 8 a.m. at the campus on Mountain Vista Road at Sunset Road. The 5K competitive race will use portions of the school's cross-country course. The one-mile "fun run" will be on asphalt and the "Kid's Lizard Stampede" will be held on a grass field. Plaques, made by VoTech's construction students, will be awarded to the top three finishers in each age division and all runners will receive T-shirts. Participants in the children's event will receive medals.

The entry fee for the 5K race is $20 while the non-competitive 1-mile race is $12. Children's entries for the "Kid's Lizard Stampede" are $5. All proceeds will benefit the Mike Hartwell and his siblings.