The SEAL Legacy Foundation (SLF) has announced that 13-year-old Will Thomas, alongside legendary businessman and philanthropist T. Boone Pickens, will receive the SEAL Unsung Hero Award on Nov. 8, 2012.

Will is much like other kids his age. He enjoys sports from basketball to baseball, and he loves to hang with his friends. But his latest endeavor goes above and beyond.

In the summer of 2011, Will was playing basketball in his driveway with his dad when he heard news of a helicopter attack in Afghanistan.

It was then he decided he had to do something more. He started Operation Hawkeye to honor fallen Special Operations Forces (SOF) warriors and rally emotional and financial support for their families in the wake of the loss of those 31 heroes in Afghanistan on August 6, 2011.

"I wanted to do something in order to support these people," Will says. “It was such a huge loss I knew something had to be done."

Operation Hawkeye uses basketball to bring national grassroots public business and SOF communities together to raise an awareness gap regarding the needs of SOF families.

The organization hopes to provide assistance to such families financially and non-financially by working with the Navy SEAL Foundation, Red Circle Foundation, USSOCOM Care Coalition and other leading nonprofits.

"We have tried to set it up so that everyone can participate," Will says. “One of our goals is to rally at least 31,000 Americans to our mission team."

Will has worked hard to see success from Operation Hawkeye, and he says he hopes he can spread the word about his project and others alike.

"We just have to spread the word that we care about the SOF families, and will rally around them however we can make a difference," he said.

Show your support by 'liking' the Operation Hawkeye Facebook Page and donating to Will's mission.