ROCK ISLAND, Illinois - Amy Haskill is all about giving. Now, WQAD News 8 and The Sedona Group are giving back to her.
Haskill is a 2019 winner of the $5,000 SOAR Scholarship!
Amy, who has a near perfect GPA SOARS academically, but it's taken a lot to get her to this point.
"I was adopted at age 11. And, before I was adopted I was in foster care for majority of my life," said Haskill.
Amy and her twin sister spent many years bouncing from home to home.
"Every time we would move, in our experience, we would lose our belongings and so through experience we wanted to give back to those kids who we know are in similar situations that we have been in," she told News 8 when we surpised her in her classroom at Rock Island High School.
Once adopted, her sister and her family decided to start up a non-profit called Closet 2 Closet.
"Basically Closet 2 Closet gives back to the children and gives them like free clothes, hygiene items, and comfort items as well. The sort of things I wish that I could`ve had when bouncing around to home to home," said Haskill.
Through the years the organization grew and so did the responsibility.
"Most families go to like baseball together, or have other activities that they do together. Well, Closest2Closet is the activity that we all put our hearts into," Haskill said.
Working full-time through the summer and up to 20-hours during the school year the Haskill girls never gave up.
Now, they are graduating from Rock Island High School and they're heading into the next chapter in life.
"I plan to go to Augustana College and major in biology in hope of becoming a nurse practitioner and basically going and helping more people. And, definitely continuing Closet 2 Closet as well. I`ll be in the area," Haskill said.
She is a young woman grounded with values that will take her far beyond her own imagination.
" There are a lot of scholarships for doing really well at sports, or being at the tippy-top of your class and its just really humbling to have students be recognized for overcoming some really big obstacles," said Amy's mom Alli Haskill.
An inspiring story as Amy continues to help make foster kids feel at home right here in the Quad Cities.
