I am lucky enough to tell all of you about the Hincka Family, the stars of the P&G national ad campaign for Special Olympics. I recently had a wonderful chat with Molly’s mom, Kerry, and here is the first part of our conversation.

Q. Tell me about your daughter Molly.

A. Gosh, that is a hard one, and it will be hard to capture her on paper. Molly is a tall, beautiful girl with a heart of gold and a spirit that is strong. She loves to share her enthusiasm for life with everyone she meets. She is extremely social, and remembers the names of people’s kids and pets and always asks about them. At our church and in her youth group in high school she was known as the hug-o-matic, best hugs in town, whenever you needed one.

Q. What sort of volunteering does she do?

A. She volunteers at an Alzheimer’s facility in our town and is loved by the residents. She also participates in many other works of service throughout the year. She is an amazing big sister to Charlotte and Danny, and especially loved being 10 when her brother was born. She mothered him, read him stories, and played with him. I think she wishes he was still a baby! As part of the community based learning program she attends, she “works” 2 mornings a week in a head start preschool program. As you can see she is popular with all age groups!

Q. Having been told Molly wouldn’t walk, it is wonderful that Molly has excelled at athletics. When did you first realize Molly had great athletic potential?

A. Molly lives in a family of jocks, so she didn’t have much choice in the matter! She was taking swimming early, and once she started walking we just proceeded with the same sports her big brother had played. She also took dance classes for 3 years.

Q. What is Molly’s history with the Special Olympics? How did she get involved, how many has she taken part in?

A. When Molly turned 8 on March 5th, 1999 the first Special Olympic sport on the calendar in our area was track! So we headed down to the high school for practice on the first Saturday in April. From the moment we arrived, there was such a feeling of acceptance, love, excitement to meet the new athlete, welcome from the parents and coaches, it was unbelievable, UN explainable. Molly was able to compete and succeed, WOW! She has participated non- stop since she began, and has done gymnastics, swimming, snowshoe, track, golf, softball, soccer and basketball.

More from Kerry next week! In the meantime, I  want to remind you that for every person that becomes a fan of the Thank You Mom Facebook page and/or leaves a comment, Procter and Gamble will donate $1 to support Special Olympics Team USA’s trip to Athens—up to $250,000. You can also create your own “Thank You Mom” video on the Facebook page – it’s amazing!