Family labors to serve others in spite of tragic event

Sally Weimer witnessed the transformation of her son after a family mission trip to Jamaica.

"We went to expose the kids to a different way of life, so we went to an orphanage there, and both of our kids just fell in love with the orphans," Sally says. "Just seeing the poverty over there made them want to help and made them appreciate what they have here."

Zach had not only developed a heart for missions, but he wanted to adopt the children he met in the orphanage.

"He was really starting to see that most kids don't have what he had, and he wanted to share that, and he wanted to help other people."

So the family planned another mission trip, this time to Guatemala.

"He was so excited to go," Sally says.

But one month before he was scheduled to make the trip, Sally and her husband Shawn got a call that Zach had been hurt. Zach and his older sister were spending the weekend in Chattanooga, on a Christian retreat.

"He was on a zip line, and he hit his head on a ladder that wasn't moved out of the way and immediately was unconscious."

Sally and Shawn made the two-hour trip from Townsend to Chattanooga, not knowing if their son was going to make it.

"He hung in there for five days. We had hope that he was going to make it," Sally says.

But Zach died on October 8, 2008. It hasn't quite been a year since that tragic day. While the Weimers still grieve over the loss of their son, they wanted to find a way to honor Zach's life.

"As soon as we were able to stop focusing on what we had lost and start thinking about what we can do with what we have left, I mean, we don't have a choice. We're here and he's in Heaven, so we've got to work hard until we get to Heaven."

So Sally and Shawn started Z Foundation. Sally says Zach was a happy kid, who loved his family, friends, pets, baseball, and camping. But more than anything, he had a faith in God.

"He liked to serve. He liked to serve people, and so we just took off with that and decided the Z Foundation would be about helping people and encouraging families to serve."

Z Foundation launched its first service project in April.

"We went down to Walter P. Taylor Homes in East Knoxville, and we put on a block party for the kids there," Sally says. "We had no idea how many people would show up."

Two hundred people showed up, and 70 volunteers from the Z Foundation came to lend a helping hand. The foundation's mission is to gather up people who are willing to go about doing good in the community.

"Z Foundation will organize all of the events, we'll implement it," Sally says. "The volunteers just show up and love on the kids."

While Zach never did get to take that mission trip to Guatemala, in a way his heart for the world didn't really stop with Jamaica either. Through the Z Foundation, his passion for helping others lives on, reaching the local community and one day the world.

Z Foundation's next service project is June 20. For information on how you can volunteer call 865-712-3227or visit www.z-foundation.org.