Kimberli Tompkins, the founder and president of Project ML-Gratitude, has been recognized as a finalist in the Fox31 Hyundai Hometown Hero contest. She stands among three finalists chosen from a pool of 250 nominations for the opportunity to win a paid three-year lease on a 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe - Calligraphy Edition. The award will be presented to one of these three finalists during a live segment on Fox31 Morning News on May 19th, 2025.

I would like to tell you a little about Kim.  I have had the privilege to know her for much of my life, but it wasn't until our 30's that I really came to know her.  We went to all of the same schools after sixth grade.  Though I think we were in the same class even back in second grade.  We never really ran in the same circles and I mostly just knew her by face and the times we shared a class or two.  School ended and we moved out onto our separate paths.  Little did I know that Kim's path would take her to the Navy right out of high school. Mine took me to the Navy several months later. 

That might seem like the end of things for a couple of classmates who were only tangentially connected.  But sometime in 2005, I decided to try out a social platform called MySpace.  Kim somehow spotted me as someone she knew and we became fast friends, spending many hours chatting through the screens of our computers.  Phones weren't smart enough for too much texting yet. I learned a lot about Kim in that time.  I listened to her stories and learned of the trials that life places in front of all of us, seemed to come at her with exceeding regularity as a single mother.  We lost touch for a few years after that and I know that she walked a difficult path in those few years to come out on the other side with courage and confidence that is uncommon in most people I have known.  I watched her grow and excel. I watched her grow from her beginnings where she hoped to be a MySpace influencer called Cherriedragon, to where she is now.  Over that time, she raised two great kids while she simultaneously worked full time and earned a college degree. Somehow she found time in there to fall in love with riding her motorcycle, Axle, and all of the wonderful people that came to her through it. 

From this point, her story becomes better known by those of use whose lives she has touched.  Her connection to her father grew stronger over the years as she came to understand the great things that he always did.  She began to find pride in her military service that wasn't glorified with distinction. She realized that it was necessary and worthy of being proud of.  That is when her outlook moved her onto her path of service.  She found the USVets RC and quickly found a home doing many great things in the community with the great people that welcomed her.  Sadly, that club disbanded, but those connections and that love of community, and especially our veteran community, was deep within her thanks to the love of her riding family and the role models she found there.

Then one day, Axle was stolen and Kim evolved again...