Causecast

By NAIVASHA DEAN, Causecast Editor

Ethan Hawke is joining the list of celebrities who are trying on the coat of humanitarianism for size. He is doing it indirectly though — through his mother, Leslie Hawke, who at age 48 dropped her job as an Internet company executive in New York City and joined the Peace Corps. Leslie Hawke is the founder of The Alex Fund, an organization dedicated to helping children and their mothers in Romania, where she was stationed. Ethan Hawke is helping out his mom by donating the proceeds from the new show he is directing at The New Group in New York City, A Lie of The Mind, to The Alex Fund.

Struck by the difference of Romania’s society with her own, Hawke was flooded with compassion for the poor of the nation upon her arrival. She was especially moved by the plight of the children, who sat begging to passers-by on the street instead of attending school. The predicament of one boy, Alexandru, inspired her to take action and to start The Alex Fund. Because of a Romanian law that stipulates if children do not go to school for two years, they become ineligible to attend, many of the children she met on the street were not even allowed in the nation’s school system. Hawke grasped the complicated nature of the situation and realized that if her organization were to be successful in getting Romanian children in school, the mothers would also have to be included in the equation.

Although others in the development sector were dubious about her idea at first, she silenced their doubts by deciding to remain in Romania to see her project through, even after her stint in the Peace Corps was over. She benefits from the success of her talented son Ethan, who sits on the board of The Alex Fund and sings his mother’s praises, saying “My mother is a terrific example for my kids, especially my daughters, by being utterly independent and working very hard for something she deeply cares about."

Through her relationship with the Fiecare Copil in Scoala or "Every Child in School Program,” and the umbrella organization Ovidiu Rom Asociatia, Hawke is working to change not only Alexandru’s life, but also the social and economic situation of mothers and children throughout Romania. Her life-changing decision to devote herself to The Alex Fund is proof that it is never too late to turn your life towards humanitarianism.

Read more about this story on Tonic.com.

Photo from Wikimedia Commons.