A father's love

Darrius and his fellow Love's team members volunteered at The Blast, our 5K walk benefitting the Cook Children's Hematology and Oncology Center

Darrius finds motivation as a father to fundraise for all of our patients

For Darrius Hamilton, fundraising for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals through Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores is personal.

Long before Darrius’s career with Love’s began, he met Victoria while working on an out-of-town project in Lancaster, Pa. The pair re-connected when Victoria came to Dallas for a business trip and shortly after began a long-distance relationship. Victoria decided to introduce Darrius to Matthew, her 3-year-old son who was born with sickle cell disease and faced extreme pain every day.

“My heart went out to the little guy,” Darrius said. “As my relationship grew with Victoria, a stronger bond also formed with Matthew. We were buds.”

The weather on the East Coast created further complications for Matthew’s health, so after an emergency splenectomy, Darrius invited Victoria and Matthew to live with him in Texas. Soon after, the couple married, and Darrius became a parent and caregiver to the young boy.

“Seeing what Matthew went through, I made it a point to go to every appointment and really understand what we needed to do as parents,” Darrius said. “I wanted to gain more knowledge so we could have intelligent conversations with the doctors about our son.”

Matthew began treatment with Clarissa Johnson, M.D., a hematologist at Cook Children’s Hematology and Oncology Center. “I get emotional thinking about Dr. Johnson,” Darrius said. “She’s very patient and understanding. When she’s treating our son, we feel like he’s her son. That’s how much she wants him to get better.”

Darrius knows firsthand the difference that world-class care can make for families like his. So when he began a career with Love’s in 2022 as the general manager at their Denton location, he was overjoyed to learn about their partnership with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

“When they told me that the hospital we fundraise for is Cook Children’s, I almost cried,” Darrius said.

Each year, Love’s associates encourage customers to make donations at the register. But Darrius wanted to do more, so he and his team organized fundraising events at their location.

“[Donations at the register] weren’t enough for me,” Darrius said. “We had a car wash, a dunking booth and a carnival. We raised over $10,000 and had the highest dollar amount in the district! We want to double our number next year. We have so many ideas, and I feel great about getting the team involved.”

Darrius puts his whole heart into being a dad, and through his career at Love’s, he does the same for our patients.

Darrius and his team raised over $10,000 for our patients, and had the highest dollar amount in the Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores Dallas district!

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