Hillbilly Hero

(April 20, 2012) - This week's Billy Johnson Community Hero and Hillbilly Days go hand in hand. And nobody should be surprised to hear that Jimmy Kinney is the Hero chosen this week. For those who do not know, Jimmy's father, "Shady" Grady Kinney is one of the original founders of Hillbilly Days, which started back in 1977. And, although Jimmy has been involved with Hillbilly Days since the beginning, that is not what has made him this week's Billy Johnson Community Hero. He is being recognized for Hillbilly Christmas in July, an annual event he and the late Randy Jones started just a few years ago.

"Randy Jones and I got together and wanted to do a ride for the Lexington Shriner's Hospital because they happen to run out of toys during the middle of the year," explained Kinney. "We had been taking toys down for Christmas, but they were a little short during July. Next thing we knew, we were getting together and pulling a ride together. The first year we did it, we took down 2,200 toys and $5,000 dollars. Lo and behold, the next year we took down 2,000 toys and ended up with about $100,000 dollars!"

Jimmy and his group have now contributed over $270,000 dollars and have delivered 30,000 toys to the hospital in Lexington. And, each year, a caravan of around 1,000 motorcycles make the trip from Pikeville, rain or shine.

Now, it's hard to talk to anyone in the eastern half of Kentucky who hasn't heard of "Hillbilly Christmas in July". But, Jimmy stresses that even though the hospital in Lexington treats children from all over, there are hundreds of local children who are current patients there. "As a matter of fact, right now, there are over 360 active patients just from Pike County," explained Kinney. "So, we really need to take care of these kids! If you can touch one child, it is worth all the money in the world."

For more information, you can check out their website at www.hillbillychristmasinjuly.org. Congratulations, Jimmy Kinney, this week's Billy Johnson Community Hero!