On Saturday We Will Remember, Honor A Great Friend
Posted
Roger Grossman, Lake City Radio-
One of the things that is true about being on the radio, especially in towns the size of Warsaw and Plymouth and Rochester and others like them, that doing it right means you will play your life out in front of your listeners. We are your friends. We keep you company. You trust us and count on us to entertain and inform you. You know when we are sick because you can hear it in our voices. You notice when we are grumpy. You remember the birth of our kids, and sometimes you send us gifts (which is REALLY nice but totally not necessary). We become part of your family. Freedom as a broadcaster comes when you embrace this concept. It’s a GOOD thing. So today’s article is me letting you into my life a little deeper. Back in February, I lost a dear friend. A lot of us lost a dear friend. His name was Roger Haeck. He was a lot of different things to a lot of different people. To some he was “the ref” at volleyball and basketball games and the starter at track meets. To a few he was their officiating ‘partner’. To others he was a science teacher at Lakeview Middle School. Some might remember him as a basketball player and track team member at Plymouth High School or Grace College. Others may have called him coach. He was quiet, he was smart and he was a good guy. He was a friend. So when Roger died in February, it left a huge hole in a lot of people’s lives. First and foremost, he’s missed incredibly by his wife Mary and their kids. Saturday, my wife and I are leading an effort to show Mary how much Roger meant to us, and how much she still does. Mary’s house needs some work, and Saturday a small army of people are going to do something about that. Through an organization called Both Hands, we have collected supplies, organized volunteers and are prepared to help Mary Haeck and her family. We heard about Both Hands through former Tiger athletes Zach and Amie (Poling) Nelson. Both Hands is a unique organization that helps adopting families defray costs associated with their adoption by forming home improvement projects for widows like Mary. It’s based on a verse in the Bible found in the book of James that encourages believers to take care of orphans and widows. By donating to Mary’s project, people are helping us help Mary and also help fund our trip to China next month to bring home a little boy who has a cleft palate. You can read more about how Both Hands projects work at www.bothhands.org Our project is just one of many projects that will take place this spring and summer. Churches and non-profit organizations are the primary conduits connecting people-in-need and people who can help them. Service projects like a Both Hands project or food donations are tremendous ways to not only help families who need help in your community, but it can be a great family activity. We are trying to instill a sense of caring and selflessness in Hannah by letting her see us do things like this and by letting her help us in ways that a 5-year-old can. It’s no guarantee, but I feel quite confident in saying that if kids are exposed to philanthropic efforts as a child in a “this is something we do as a family” kinda way, they will tend to keep doing it as an adult and will institute that in their families when they become parents. I hope Hannah, and eventually our son too, will see these kinds of things as just a normal part of their lives. Then I hope they will become leaders in recognizing people and families who have these needs and setting up the right projects to give true help and support. We can always use more volunteers, so if you are looking for something to do Saturday and you knew Roger or know Mary at all, or just want to help, we can use you. So Saturday we will be painting and planting and putting things back together that are broken using “both hands” to do it. If only we could put back together our broken hearts so easily. We miss you Roger.
