Warsaw resident Zachary Hoffer has been named the recipient of the 2011 Indiana Personal Achievement Award.
Hoffer was honored Dec. 8 in Indianapolis at the Indiana Personal Achievement Awards Luncheon, where his parents and siblings came to support and cheer him on as he accepted his award.
Indiana Association for Persons In Supported Employment presented the award to Hoffer.
Hoffer’s road to success was not an easy one. When Hoffer was in the sixth grade, he was just the average neighborhood boy, playing baseball, football and always on his bike.
Then one afternoon while riding out with his friends, he was struck by a car and sustained a severe traumatic brain injury. He had to relearn how to walk, talk, eat and all the everyday activities most people take for granted.
After many surgeries and months of rehabilitation and therapy, Hoffer was able to return to school but had fallen far behind his classmates. With determination and drive, Hoffer graduated with his class. However, Hoffer did not stop there.
After graduation, he entered the work program at Cardinal Services, and soon discovered that he had bigger dreams.
With the assistance of Vocational Rehabilitation Services and Cardinal Services’ Career Links program, he was able to obtain his driver’s license, welding certification and employment as a welder at Par-Kan Industries.
According to his co-workers, Hoffer is not just a Par-Kan employee, he is part of the Par-Kan family. His friends at work have even given him a nickname, which according to Hoffer, means you are one of the guys.
