Heidorn children start charity in honor of their parents

On Sunday, Mike Heidorn will host a birthday party for his dad, the late Leonard “Len” Heidorn.

The five Heidorn children and their families will gather at Mike’s home in Belleville. The Eiskants. The Farrars. The Heidorns. It would have been the Big 8-0 for Dad on Dec. 13. There will be stories, laughs and tears. Probably some music and cake.

It will be their first birthday party for Dad without him. He died on Dec. 27, 2014, after suffering a stroke on Christmas Eve.

“A bad holiday season,” said Mike. “The worst.”

2015 started somberly as the Heidorn Family suddenly found itself without its anchors — Mom and Dad.

Mom Eileen Heidorn died of cancer in August 2005 at age 66. She had worked as a cafeteria worker at Belleville East and West. She was a kind, caring person, remembers her oldest child, Craig Heidorn, who grew up in Belleville but now lives in O’Fallon, Mo.

“My mom was always helping somebody,” Craig said. (She was a volunteer for the Women’s Crisis Center.) “She was always serving someone or a good cause.”

Younger brother Mike said, “We were a very tight-knit family growing up. We had five kids growing up in a ranch-style house in Swansea. A great, simple life, thanks to our parents.”

Len retired as chief city dispatcher from Yellow Freight System and later drove a bus for Harmony/Emge School District 175.

2015 could have been a year of grief and mourning. It was, in many ways. But the Heidorns decided to come together and do something positive in their late parents’ memory

About four or five years ago, Craig had an idea of creating a nonprofit organization in his mom’s memory. A group to help others in the Belleville area because his mom was always helping others. Craig talked to his dad about his idea many times. But Craig lived and worked in O’Fallon, Mo. He was a busy man. It never materialized.

Around Valentine’s Day 2015, a couple of months after his dad died, Craig decided it was time to move forward. He had experience in starting a nonprofit, church-based organization in the St. Charles County area and served as a board member.

He started talking to his brother Mike, and sisters Carol (Eiskant), Kelly (Farrar) and Susan about starting a nonprofit organization in their parents’ memory.

Those inaugural family meetings last spring were held in the attic of Mike’s home.

Craig had the vision.

His siblings supported him.

“I’m pretty sure they didn’t know what their crazy older brother had in mind. But they were supportive,” joked Craig.

With family on board and goals in place, all the paperwork was completed for what has become the new “ElevenEleven Organization.”

Why the name “ElevenEleven Organization?”

Leonard and Eileen (formerly McKinney) Heidorn were married Nov. 11, 1958, at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Belleville.

Mike, a former drummer in the rock bands Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, thinks his parents would like the organization’s name.

“They’d like that it didn’t have their name in the title,” he said with a smile. “They were very humble people. It was never about them.”

Officially, the ElevenEleven Org is a “nonprofit charity organization in memory of Eileen and Len Heidorn, to continue their passion to help children and families build better lives.”

The Heidorns have filed for the 501c3 status for the organization but still await the final paperwork for tax-exempt designation.

The organization’s first community event was Nov. 11. A “Rice Casserole Food Pack Event” was held at St. Luke’s Parish Center in Belleville. Volunteers prepared and packed food that will feed local families and children through the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Belleville Council’s soup kitchens and food pantries.

Craig said ElevenEleven Organization has a partnership with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Belleville Council. He said the organization epitomizes the volunteer work of his mother.

Similar activities are being planned for 2016 and beyond.

All the Heidorn siblings bring their own special skills to the organization, Mike said. Organization. Budgeting. Artwork. Creativity. Sense of humor. Strong work ethic. Like their parents.

The creation of the ElevenEleven Organization has helped the Heidorns cope with the recent loss of their father, and their mother more than a decade ago.

They will celebrate their dad’s 80th birthday Sunday. It will be a little different this year without Dad. But they’ll all be together.

“We are a close family but this past year has brought us even closer,” said Mike. “I think they’d be proud of the endeavor. I really do.”

This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 3:21 PM with the headline "Heidorn children start charity in honor of their parents."