The Justice League of Hope, a group of people who cosplay as superheroes and other characters, are a charity based in Grand Junction. The League visits children in hospitals, puts on birthday parties, sponsors low-income families for Christmas and much more.
The heart of the organization is the man behind the Deadpool mask: Dave Brock.
Brock will be hosting a fundraiser at Colorado Mesa University (CMU) on Oct. 26. The fundraiser is a free dance that students can attend, with the option to donate. All of the proceeds with go straight to the Justice League of Hope’s Christmas fund, which will be used to buy gifts for low-income families, as well as supporting them financially through the holiday season.
“Thank God I wear a mask because I tear up. I grew up in foster homes [and] group homes and that’s what inspired all of this. You know, I didn’t have a family and I wish people would have done this for us when we were kids,” Brock said.
Some of Brock’s inspiration for the Justice League of Hope came after 9/11. He originally wanted to go into the military and serve his country along with his best friend, but that was ruled out after he suffered an injury in high school.
“A superhero is aimed towards not only just little kids, but adults. I mean, everybody wants to be a hero in some way. I wanted to get in the military but wasn’t able to because I got hurt. I wanted to be a real hero, but I wasn’t able to do that. I found a different way to be a hero. Superheroes can reach out through anything,” Brock said.
Inspired by the comics and stories that had helped him through his difficult childhood as a foster kid in group homes, he decided to cosplay as Superman to inspire other children to keep fighting through life.
“One of the things that we thrive on, more than Christmas or anything, is those hospital visits because you’re giving those kids a little bit of extra strength to fight whatever they’re going through, whatever pain it is. I mean, most of the time it’s kind of sad that [when most cosplayers or celebrities] go to a hospital and visit kids, it’s on their deathbed,” Brock said. “We don’t want to be there as a dying wish. We want to give them that new inspiration to keep going.”
One of Brock’s favorite moments throughout his time in the Justice League of Hope happened recently. He had gotten off work at his first job and was headed to his second job, when he checked Facebook and saw that he’d been tagged in a post.
It was a Grand Junction mother’s call for help from the community after all 20 of her 8-year-old son’s birthday guests failed to show up for his party. Brock promptly quit his second job and suited up.
“You always [have] to make an impact and make sure that impact is positive. You know, that impact doesn’t have to be going above and beyond. It could just be telling somebody they have a cool shirt, just anything to make somebody smile and create that unbreakable smile,” Brock said.
Giving back, creating a memorable impact, and being the cause of smiles is what Brock lives to do.
“One of Stan Lee’s sayings is one person can’t really make a difference. One person can make a difference, but it’s all the people who’s been supporting him to make him be able to. And I have an amazing team of friends that I call my family to keep me going on this, because there are so many times I wanted to give up,” Brock said.
