Untold Stories: Catholic school grants scholarship to 6 year old whose father is slain

St. Martin de Porres Interparochial School in Philadelphia has granted a scholarship to a boy whose father was recently slain. 

After the child's mother died, David Atkins took a job as a security guard at Temple University Hospital to afford the tuition for his son to attend the school.  Staff at the school saw him dropping his son, David, off every day, and knew how important it was to him that the boy attend school there.

Patrick McKenzie, director of campus ministry, said Atkins and his son were the first to arrive at a potluck dinner last week for a black history program. Atkins, he said, took great interest in his son's education and was involved with his studies as well as volunteer programs.

"He walked him to the door every morning, which I think really reflected how much he loved his son and wanted the best for him," McKenzie said. "He's a great kid, chock-full of positive energy."

Hillig and McKenzie both said David is interested in learning and doing well with his studies.

"When he's asked to do something, he does his best to do it right," [Sister Cheryl Ann] Hillig said. "He really is an amazing kid." via philly.com

Untold Stories: Who is Joseph Kelly Sr?

He was a family man and a friend who gave unconditionally.

He died last week after pulling over on a freeway to help a homeless man in a wheelchair who was stuck on a busy median one night. Both were struck - and killed - by a truck.

Joseph Kelly was not unused to doing such things. According to friends and family, he was constantly helping others, there for them.

Handy with tools and things mechanical, Kelly frequently mended or installed items for friends and neighbors.
"Just last year he put three ceiling fans in my house as a favor," said Stango, one of his bosses.
After his marriage broke up, Kelly moved in with Joe Jr. and his son's fiancee in Levittown, where neighbors saw his generous spirit.
John Wright, 50, who lived across Holly Drive, said Kelly once disassembled a neighbor's noisy pool filter "and went on the computer to find out what's wrong with the motor. Sure enough, he figured it out.
"I'd say 'Joe, I can't move this bundle of shingles.' He'd come over and pick them up, even though he's older than me. He would help me do anything." via philly.com

No, I never met Joseph Kelly, Sr, but I've met people like him in my life. (They're all around - like this young gamer who helped out his year old nephew with a partial liver transplant.)  And when I saw this article, I did what I'd want someone to do for one of those folks - remember their lifetime of giving and celebrate their spiritual generosity.

Now you know who Joseph Kelly Sr. is too.  

[visual description: A photo of Joseph Kelly Sr. is shown. He is smiling and wearing a dark suit with a light blue tie.]

New interactive feature: Untold Stories

From a reader:

The story of two coworkers: a kidney donor - the recipient - and a life saving sacrifice. This article about two women in Seattle was sent by an anonymous reader as one of the Untold Stories that gets buried in the (often sensational) news.

"Gaeb, who expects to go back to work in July, said Jenkins' gift frees her from dialysis. That gives her 17 more hours of free time each week, she said, time that she can spend with a grandchild.

What kind of a person voluntarily interrupts her own life to save someone else's? How was it that Jenkins didn't do what so many of us do each day -- get so involved in our own lives, problems and activities that we turn our backs and hope someone else will take action?"

Via Seattle pi

If you see an Untold Story , please email it.

Untold Stories: Neighbors Unite after Tornado & a Quad's firsthand experience of a tornado

An anonymous reader emailed me a link to this article from Catholic Online about how Floridians who recently suffered tornado damage found abundant help in its aftermath.

Father Browne from Sacred Heart parish arrived on the scene of a damaged neighborhood in Isleboro only to find that people didn't need help. Local contractors were already at work, clearing debris with chainsaws. Other residents were hard at work helping those with damaged homes.

The article reads in part:

"“It was amazing,” Gretchen explained. “People from the subdivision came to help us. We’re not really one big family - just families living in each house. We hadn’t even talked before and yet people were coming to help out.”

As police let volunteers into the subdivision, people from Krantz’s work arrived with water, Gatorade and bags of food from McDonald’s. The American Red Cross delivered pizza and sandwiches and a representative from the Federal Emergency Management Agency arrived. To Krantz, it seemed like every city employee had been sent to help clean up. By 9:30 p.m., Friday, power was restored to the most of the area." {Via Catholic Online}

This help not only restored the residents' physical needs, but their faith in others as well. According to one resident, she said that she learned how much she was loved.

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goldchair emailed me the following story:

Via Summer 2001 Accent on Living

In 2001, a quadriplegic in Kansas named Curtis faced a tornado alone. Like myself, once he is in bed, he doesn't have any mobility.

His attendant, Janet, called him as the tornado was going through from a local church. He assured her that he was fine and to stay put since the tornado was heading in her direction.

Both survived. Curtis' advice to a quadriplegic or person with a disability facing this situation is to throw blankets over oneself - as he pointed out, unless you have a backup attendant, there isn't much you can do. An employee at an Independent Living Center, Curtis was very matter of fact about the situation.

By the way, Janet came over and checked on him as soon as the tornado passed.

[This is the first in a series of stories that are news "worthy", but may not have received the recognition in the media they deserve. If you know of a story like this, please email me a link or information about it.]





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New interactive feature: Untold Stories

I posted previously about how there are many stories that don't get covered in the media because a great deal of time is spent on sensational issues.

I've been thinking about this topic since I went to Mass on Sunday. During the sermon, Msgr. Malovetz pointed out that we are bombarded with news and (I am paraphrasing) it can be difficult to discern what is and is not important.

So I've decided that it's worthwhile to add a new feature here: which is to ask readers to submit links/information to and about untold stories- stories that may not be sensational enough to make it any further than local news, but are of intrinsic worth. They may be stories that are only known by families and friends - I'm keeping the definition open for now.

The story can be either current or old, it can be about any topic or person, although I do want to emphasize stories that are related to my blog. However, if you run across something interesting, please forward it. And let me know if you want credit (your name in the post, a link to your website, blog, etc.) Feel free to include a short bio or introduction about yourself as well.( I'll assume that whatever you put in your email can be posted unless you indicate otherwise.)

My email is located in my profile!

The Untold (and Unexciting ) Stories We Never Hear

"The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything, except what is worth knowing."
Oscar Wilde

Anyone who has cable TV has seen it - the 24 hour news station. Pick your brand - vanilla, chocolate, strawberry - but all of them have one thing in common - a ratings race.

So they show news that people want to see. I know this is true, because when Anna Nicole Smith died, all of the news about the Iraq war, the nuclear arms negotiations with North Korea, and the situation with Iran disappeared except for short bits at the top of the hour. Instead we were regaled with pictures of the star, her son, her baby, and the baby's first, second or possibly third fathers. People were interviewed - her past agents, her mother, her sister, possible fathers, possible fathers' lawyers and even a woman outside of the hotel where the body was taken from. (Her fifteen minutes of fame.)

If you still doubt that this happens, the same thing occurred when a NASA astronaut went off compass the week before. All of the other news was pushed aside in favor of that story, sensationalized beyond any sane person's ability to withstand.

And, yet, these situations are tragic. A young baby is left motherless and a woman is dead at 39, her only other child, a son, dead at 20 years of age. A highly educated, committed woman who served our country and sacrificed a great deal has allegedly broken the law, and ruined her career and reputation.

Based on ratings, our insatiable curiosity as a nation will apparently never be satisfied, no matter how much coverage we see of events such as these. Next week there will be another sensational story. The faces will change, but the reality will remain the same: The stories that are not being told are more often the ones worth knowing.