Eileen Kelly Fearless Fund
Eileen loved, well, everyone. Her mantra was “there are friends just waiting around every corner.”
She just knew those friends were there. She also knew that friends are trustworthy, compassionate, and honest … and live by pinky swear! Eileen always lived by the mantra, even when her life changed forever
at 19 when she experienced a traumatic brain injury. While every day experiences and tasks became challenging, Eileen chose to embrace those challenges as opportunities. She met every “bump in the road” with great strength, grace, fortitude, and smiles. She also saw the world through a different lens and observed that many find themselves excluded – for whatever reason – and “didn’t fit in.” Ever “at the ready,” Eileen took on the mission to ensure that everyone felt heard and cared for. She gave strangers (who, according to Eileen, were just “friends waiting to happen”) her undivided attention, a hand up, a warm beaming smile … and friendship.
Her cousin, Kasey Harding, described her as fearless – someone who wasn’t afraid to look around her and find out what needed her attention. That’s not to say Eileen didn’t have her own “rough” days, particularly after her injury, but she had an inner strength and a belief that we all matter; that we can all help one another; and that, together, we make a stronger community.
Led by Kasey, her husband Bob, their children and the entire Harding Family, “A Family Affair” began to continue Eileen’s legacy of giving a hand up and showing up, even when it is difficult to do so. Her family established the Eileen Kelly Fearless Fund at the Community Foundation of Middlesex County to remember her as the fearless friend and family member she was. Lizzie Harding, Eileen’s niece, noted that “my aunt was the bravest and strongest person I know. She never let her condition stop her from showing up for family, even when it was difficult for her.”
Kasey and her husband, Bob, wanted to honor Eileen in such a special way that “our kids can remember her and make a difference in her footsteps. Establishing this Fund is a family project, a way to keep her present in our lives in a loving way,” explained Kasey. “Eileen was always doing random, nice acts of kindness for strangers. If she heard about a “lost cause,” she was right there, first at the table, to brainstorm how to take on that cause and encourage others to chip in. She embraced things when everything had been tried and didn’t work. She just knew that with a little more perseverance, a solution could be found, or a helping hand could be given. That’s our goal: finding solutions; ignoring problems! Our hope is that others who loved Eileen will join us in building her legacy at CFMC.”
The Eileen Kelly Fearless Fund will support small community projects to help those in need, who might just need a hand up or a “random act of kindness,” Eileen would have found them and done just that.
The Community Foundation is honored to work with Kasey, Bob, their children, and the entire Harding family, who loved and admired Eileen. “Random Acts of Kindness” count and that’s the Harding family’s – and Eileen’s motto. There’s no such thing as a “lost cause.”