(KAIR)--It could have been a tragedy, but instead, an Atchison man's mishap leads to a life-saving discovery, and ultimately plays a key role in an outpouring of local community support for those in need. 

Brian Spilman is the founder of the community organization Helping Hands For the Holidays. “In July of 2013, I hit a deer on my motorcycle. I rolled 300 feet down the highway. Long story short, I went to the emergency room and found out I had a cyst on my kidney. November of 2013, I had my left kidney removed and found out I had stage three cancer. Hitting the deer on the motorcycle was a blessing in disguise. At that time I felt lucky to be alive, so that inspired me more to try to help people.”

Enriched with that desire to help those who needed it most, Spilman turned to an annual donation drive, “Hope for the Holidays,” hosted by Kansas City's 98.9 the Rock. 

He reached out to friends on Facebook, challenging them to match his donations for that effort. “I was brainstorming one day and I thought, you know if I could get everybody to pool their money together, could make a huge difference in someone's life. I posted a challenge of a picture of a five dollar bill, and said I have a thousand friends on here [Facebook], if half donated five bucks a piece, that's 25-hundred bucks, you know. In three weeks time I raised $3,800.”

Spilman then began to have difficulty getting through to the Kansas City station's phone lines to donate the funds he had raised. He turned back to the group of friends who gave graciously, and they decided to put their focus on the local community, and Helping Hands for the Holidays was formed. 

Spilman says the group now welcomes outside support, as seen in the organization's fundraising efforts. “We had a motorcycle ride in June, which we're going to do every year the last Saturday of June. We had an ATV ride, we've decided to do one in the spring and one in the fall for the ATV ride. About a month ago, I decided to raffle off of a Playstation 4. You know, that was $2,000 right there by itself.” 

Spilman, and his fellow members of Helping Hands For the Holidays, look to future opportunities to help support those in need. 

With an account set up at the Exchange Bank of Atchison, Spilman says all donations are welcome, and can be given by contacting him on the organization's Facebook page or by calling him at 913-370-3753.