Hear Our Volunteers' Stories
Comedy Characters
By: Lawrence R. Smith
I have the honor of being Tom Franklin’s friend. I met Tom as a New Hope volunteer reading tutor. Tom wanted to become a better reader and I wanted to find an excuse not to go to the gym. Over the years, Tom has taught me much more than I taught him.
While reading a science-fiction thriller one day, Tom mentioned he liked “comics.” He said he was interested in working with comics. Silly me as I thought “comics” told jokes in clubs and appeared on Jay Leno or David Letterman. Other types of comics wore baggy pants and performed with circuses making children and adults laugh. Luck would have it that the annual Shrine Circus was coming to town. We waited and waited and planned our trip to see if Tom could become a comic. His tryout went very well. He was an instant success as you can see from the photo. We were told he was a natural and didn’t even need make-up.
Later Tom taught me about comics and introduced me to the fun of collecting serious animation art called cels. He took me to a comic collector’s show. We visited a gallery with animation art of all the superhero action figures. We looked through hundreds of original classic comic books. Many were protected in museum quality frames. Tom was the hit of the show. He is a walking encyclopedia of comic book literature and action hero history. While talking to a collector from Ohio, he found a rare copy of a TV Guide with a classic Green Hornet television series on the cover, starring a young Bruce Lee as the leaping Kato. Next time you see Tom be on guard, he might jump out and give you a karate chop. Ahh haaa….
Thom Thyme
By: Lora Harvey
Hi! My name is Lora, and this is my friend Thom. Our friendship began in the summer of 2005, when I was between jobs and wanted to take the opportunity to search for volunteer opportunities. Fortunately, I found St. Vincent New Hope, and the volunteer coordinator matched me up with Thom. Thom and I quickly became good friends.
Thom is smart, articulate, and has a great sense of humor. He has a staff of people that take very good care of him and his housemates. It is a very demanding job, and these people are real heroes. With all the demands of just meeting physical needs, it is difficult to fit in time to take the clients out for recreational activities, though they do manage to do it when they can.
When I started volunteering with Thom, he encouraged me to get “van trained.” Taking this on just seemed so overwhelming to me. What a huge responsibility that would be - first aid, all those straps to secure him into the van and never mind the size of the van itself! But Thom kept encouraging me, and I decided to finally give it a try, and I’m so glad I did. We go all over the place. We’ve been to the circus, the zoo, cookouts, movies, the mall, Indians baseball, and more. We really enjoy our time together and always look forward to the next outing. Thom is always so appreciative of the time I spend with him. I know I get at least as much out of the experience as he does.
I have always wanted to volunteer and am so glad to have the opportunity to be of service. I highly recommend it.
Fridays With The Guys
By: Summit Academy Volunteers—Dawn, Daniel, Hannah, Josiah, Nicolas, Rachel and “the guys” Dan, Jeff, and Steve
For many of us, Fridays are special days. The kickoff to the weekend seems to give us more energy and brings ready smiles to our faces. For students at The Summit Academy and some residents of New Hope, Friday is also Friday Community Outreach (FCO) Day – time to meet with friends and share some special moments together.
The students and residents meet every other Friday afternoon for a time of sharing and caring. The students have been volunteering in one of the New Hope homes for the past 4 years. Last year, the students started meeting with 3 special guys at the Amherst home. Their time and fellowship really blossomed into special friendships over the year.
Some of the activities they have enjoyed include playing games – hangman, Uno and Yahtzee are special favorites. They have also made decorations and celebrated special seasons by painting pumpkins, trimming the tree at Christmas, and dressing up for different holidays. Planting flowers is another time of great fellowship, and there is also great joy in just sitting and talking on the back deck and really getting to know one another.
This year there are a few new students in the group and they have become fast friends with the New Hope residents. Events have been planned for the remainder of the school year, and the students and Amherst gentlemen worked together to prepare this article. There was so much excitement generated in writing this article that the group plans to start either a blog or a creative writing/art journal. Who knows, the Friday friends may even publish their work some day! What is certain is that there really is something special about the friendships being enriched on FCO Fridays.
