The Iron Will Endowment Fund was created in honor of Will Thompson, 17, who was born with congenital heart disease. Grants from this fund are directed to Children's Resource Center West within the Chippewa County Department of Public Health, who provide pediatric health care services to local families in need.

At birth, Will had significant heart defects and spent his first four months of life in neonatal and pediatric intensive care units. He had three heart surgeries before he was four-years-old. According to his mother, Rebecca Thompson, Will struggled to thrive during his early years and battled bouts of pneumonia and other underlying issues. He developed lung disease and a seizure disorder, further complicating his prognosis.

"When this is happening, families are focused on saving their children's lives and just trying to get through each day," said Rebecca, noting that Will has a sister, Jane, who was only two when he was born. "We were inundated, staring at the unknown, and I spent days and days on the phone with insurance issues that never seemed to end."

Even when they were spending every day at the hospital, Will's family felt fortunate because they had good medical coverage from the start, plenty of family support, and resources to help them find local, state and federal programs, which include Katie Beckett Medicaid, insurance coverage created for children living at home with complex medical needs.

"It saddens us to know there are many families in Chippewa County that do not have adequate health insurance, or are unaware of the resources available to them, or cannot afford the necessities to take care of their sick child," said Rebecca. "We want to help these families in honor of our son Will."

Even though Will still has a team of specialists and a full cardiac and neurological workup each year, his mother describes him as a typical teen who loves swimming, movies and playing video games.

"He's extremely bright," said Rebecca. "To me, every time he goes through something, he's a superhero. He has always handled all of this with such grace."

When the family decided to create the fund, they noticed that most funds were memorializing the deceased. In the spirit of paying it forward, this fund provides financial assistance, and a healthy dose of hope, demonstrating that others on a similar journey are doing remarkably well.

"We are so happy to be able to do this for other families in the area." said Rebecca.