KIDSon Cares receives $5,000 grant from Enbridge

HALLOCK, Minn. —When Jacob Hook accepted a $5,000 donation from Enbridge on Tuesday, Oct. 17, for KIDSon Cares, it was in memory of his grandfather Aaron “Bud” Hook.
“I accept this grant from Enbridge in honor of Grandpa, and in memory of those people who have left a legacy in our communities, who have brought us to where we are today,” Hook said.
Bud Hook worked for the Lakehead Pipe Line Company from 1951 until his retirement in 1986, starting in Bemidji, Minn., and then moving with his family to Clearbrook until finally ending up in Viking, Minn., where he was the mechanical supervisor for decades. Jacob talks about visiting his grandfather at Viking, walking around “in awe,” talking to many of the men featured in the picture with Bud. Bud was part of the very start of the Lakehead Pipe Line company in Minnesota, which was later renamed Enbridge.
It is their connection to the past that will help support the future generations of Kittson County.
Growing up in Hallock, Minn., Hook said he experienced firsthand how people in his small community took care of each other.
“During my childhood there were times when I would rely on the generosity of my community. In our small town somebody always came through, to help me out. I would ask, ‘How can I ever repay you?’ and they would say ‘You’ll find a way to pay it forward,’” he said.
Hook moved to Fargo where he got married to his wife Breeanna, and together they raised their children, Alex and Emily. He eventually took over his wife’s family business, and has coached basketball for the last 25 years.
But those who helped him in his childhood never left his mind, and when he fell in love with his hometown again, his way to pay it forward finally found him.
“I wanted to do something for kids like me in the community, and I was talking to my friend Paul Blomquist, and that’s when we came up with KIDSon Cares.”
The co-founders initially set out to raise $10,000 for kids in the first year.
“We raised $10,000 in the first three months,” Hook said. “It just took off.”
KIDSon Cares has become a small-town movement. Over the past four years, KIDSon Cares has raised over $200,000 to provide Kittson County youth with everything from shoes, boots, coats, hats and mittens to beds, bikes and scholarships.
“This donation from Enbridge will allow us to keep providing for the children of our county.”