CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The family of Corpus Christi Police Department Ofc. Kyle Hicks is receiving a generous gift from a national nonprofit organization.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation, born from the 9/11 tragedy in which many police officers and firefighters died, announced it will pay off the mortgage on the Hicks family home.
The organization provides mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and first-responder families with young children. They also build accommodating smart homes for seriously injured veterans and first responders.
Hicks was shot while responding to a domestic disturbance call in the early-morning hours of April 20 and died at Bay Area Hospital on April 24. As a final act of service Hicks donated his organs to save up to eight lives.
A celebration of life will be held in his honor beginning at 1 p.m. Tuesday at First Baptist Church, 3115 Ocean Dr.
Tunnel to Towers officials said the Hicks family has been notified of the gift. Its intent: to make sure Hicks' wife and the couple's four children will own the home they once shared with their husband and father outright.
"Every day, America’s first responders answer calls for help with no idea what awaits them. Officer Hicks answered a call for help – and it cost him his life," the group's chairman and CEO Frank Siller said. "Tunnel to Towers is honored to ensure that Cassandra and their children can stay in the home they shared."
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