Page 97 - Abilene Living

drinking, what have you - don’t get into that vehicle. There’s been a few that’s done that.”

Speaking engagements are just a portion of the work Matt and his wife, Paige, have done to honor the memory of their son. They formed the Zach Robinson Foundation to raise money for area charities. They host an annual golf tournament and banquet. Last year the event raised more than $130,000 that benefted Big Country organizations, including Operation Graduation donations for Abilene, Cooper and Wylie High Schools.

“It’s really turned into something amazing,” Robinson said. “This year’s event is May 14-17. We do a clay shoot, a banquet and two days of golf.” The keynote speaker of the banquet is former Dallas Cowboys All-Pro Defensive tackle Randy White. Past speakers included baseball Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench and all-time hits leader Pete Rose. “We gave over $130,000 away last year,” he said. “Five $5,000 scholarships to Taylor County kids, we gave $30,000 to Loving Care Ministry, money to Faces, a ministry for at-risk kids, kids who just need a chance. We helped Safety City.” They also sprung for a new baby grand piano after Zach carved his initials into the one at school. “We were just sick,” Robinson said. “We didn’t know about it until after he died. We ended up buying them a new piano and we got the one with his initials, which is very special to us.” Robinson said losing Zach has made a difference in their relationship with their youngest son Nathan, who is a tennis player at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. “I can’t even describe how scared

ABOVE In addition to playing baseball, basketball and soccer, Zach was an avid golfer and played on his high school varsity golf team. Like most people his age, Zach believed nothing bad would happen to him. That’s one of the reasons why his father feels led to share his story with others. He reminds kids that getting in trouble with their parents is far better than getting in a car with a driver who has been drinking.