Bowling for Zach: Woodstock mom finds new lane for honoring late son, helping others

Woodstock resident Diane Brokaw will continue her charitable efforts – just on a smaller scale – after completing her final fundraiser last year in honor of her son, Zach, who died in a car crash at age 20 after falling asleep behind the wheel.

Brokaw announced her final Stuff the Stocking fundraiser last year. She decided to end the efforts because of the extensive, months-long commitment of planning and coordinating the event, plus the work of giving out the donations. Brokaw’s fundraisers honor Zach’s giving nature while also raising awareness of the dangers of drowsy driving.

As a part of her final Stuff the Stocking event, Brokaw organized a bowling tournament at Kingston Lanes in Woodstock. The party brought in almost 100 bowlers and raised over $6,000 through donations, 50/50 drawings and raffles. Brokaw decided that she wanted to make the bowling fundraiser an annual event around the time of Zach’s birthday, April 9. She plans to start next year and already has a date locked down, April 12, 2026.

“I thought about it, and I thought, ‘Why not?’” she said. “If you can make $6,000 in an afternoon, you can still help a lot of people with that.”

Many of Zach’s friends, who now have kids of their own, and previous teachers of Zach attended the event and encouraged Brokaw to make it an annual thing.

“It’s just a fun way to remember him, and for them to make new memories with their families and their kids,” she said.

In total, Brokaw has raised more than $112,000 in the past 10 years. She was able to surpass her $20,000 goal for her final fundraiser and collected over $22,000. A small portion of last year’s fundraiser helped residents in communities in North Carolina who were affected by Hurricane Helene.

Brokaw teamed up with the North Carolina nonprofit Valley Strong Disaster Relief, which matched her $1,000 donation to six families each. One of the families she helped was deeply moved by her donation, she said. The man told Brokaw that he lost everything within eight minutes after his house flooded. For four hours, he held onto his mom and his front porch pillar in “raging waters” until they were rescued, she said. As a thank you, he gave Brokaw a fishing hook that was pinned to a hat he was wearing when the hurricane hit.

“I was so moved by that,” she said. “Here’s a guy who lost literally everything but the hat on his head, and he gives me this.”

When Brokaw got back home, she sent the man one of Zach’s Eagle Scout pins in return.

“That’s part of why it’s so hard for me to quit,” she said. “If I can make a difference in lives like this, I don’t want to just stop.”

Her fundraiser drew donations from 20 different states. With the money, Brokaw provided financial assistance to local families battling cancer and other illnesses, a family displaced by an apartment fire, a Wonder Lake food pantry and McHenry County-based New Directions Recovery Center.

“It’s hard. There’s a lot of emotion in this too,” she said. “It’s very hard to know how many people are out there struggling, and I’m trying my best.”

Over the years, Brokaw has been able, through the Stuff the Stocking effort, to fund outings for Zach’s Boy Scout troop, donate nature books, underwrite school field trips for Woodstock School District 200 and give out backpacks filled with supplies for birding. Then, she started to donate through “random acts of kindness” by giving gift cards and cash to people in the community struggling with financial problems to help with things such as medical bills, veterinary bills, groceries and auto repairs. Donations have gone to veterans, people in recovery and senior citizens, Brokaw said. She also has distributed thousands of dollars in gift cards to local families, hospitality industry employees and volunteers at nonprofit organizations.

Zach Brokaw was an Eagle Scout and graduate of Woodstock North High School, where he served as president of the National Honor Society, played trombone in the band and was a member of both the track and cross country teams. He was a member of both the McHenry County and Illinois Audubon Societies, as well as the Climate Justice Coalition, according to his obituary.

For next year’s bowling tournament, Brokaw is looking for corporate sponsors to provide raffle items. For more information, email Brokaw at dianebrokaw@juno.com.