2026 Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award finalist: Meet Jim Osborn
Meet Jim Osborn, founder and volunteer of the Austin Hatcher Foundation, a finalist for the 2026 Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award.
Video Transcript
My name is Jim Osborne.
I'm the co-founder of the Austin Hatcher Foundation for pediatric cancer.
We provide service to the child, the sibling, and the parents at no cost throughout their lifetime.
The Austin Hatcher Foundation was formed from a very personal experience of Jim and I and our first son, Austin.
I met my wife through racing.
I met her at Road Atlanta, and a few years later, we had our son, Austin Hatcher, and we showed him off at the Petit Le Mans in 2006 when we were racing there, and we lost him to cancer.
Our son was diagnosed with one of the most rare and aggressive forms of pediatric cancer, and from that moment of diagnosis, he passed away 11 days later.
At that point, we looked at what we were doing, and we said, "We've gotta do something bigger."
I don't know where I would be without the Austin Hatcher Foundation.
I don't know how I would've gotten up after losing Lorelei.
They helped me walk through things that no parent should have to walk through.
It's just a comfort to know that they're there for our entire family for the lifetime, and they're gonna walk this road with us ongoing.
These didn't come with the car, so we put all these switches in.
The Austin Hatcher Foundation is a safe place for families who are looking for support, and it provides a community atmosphere so that people can find connection and healing.
Everything that we do here is centered around providing therapy for gaps in cares that exist, creating therapies that are fun and interesting that families wanna come here and get it.
We really wanna hide the therapy and the education into an activity.
This place is like a home away from home.
People think about the initial diagnosis and treatment, but there's also a lot that comes with it afterwards.
For a child to be able to come here and meet their therapeutic goals, but leave here and saying, "That was fun," I think that we've all met our outcome.
And what are you guys making today?
A spider.
Ooh.
Is it gonna sit down beside her?
No.
No.
I don't think a lot of people would have the ability in that dark place after losing a child to think of others.
We've had so many ups and downs in life, and then with his diagnosis, I honestly thought three years ago he wasn't gonna be here.
And so for him to be here today and be a part of this, just, it's just amazing.
