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Vote for Jordan Thomas in the 2009 CNN Hero Awards Thursday, October 08, 2009
Most of us have learned how to “turn lemons into lemonade,” to use our hardships as motivation for righting a wrong. How often, though, do we forgo our own thirst, put the lemonade on tap and share it with those more terribly parched?
Four years ago, Jordan Thomas was a 16-year-old who loved playing soccer, snow skiing and spending hours on the golf course. A short time later, he became a double-amputee with the daunting task of re-learning to walk. Such a traumatic experience could stifle the biggest of hearts and stun the strongest of spirits.
However, underneath Jordan’s lanky frame and shaggy hair is an unbelievably courageous soul that refused to let the loss of his legs hinder his mobility. Only days after his recovery, Jordan began setting his own ailment aside to focus on helping fellow amputees. Specifically, he saw a need to assist low-income children who rapidly outgrow their prosthetics, whose insurance will only cover ONE set of fittings that cost thousands of dollars apiece. Therein, lies the mission of the Jordan Thomas Foundation, which Jordan and his family founded in 2006 to raise money that will sponsor child-amputees by supplying them with proper prosthetics.
Mr. Roy Exum summed it up very well in his October 4 opinion article in The Chattanoogan:“So here comes Jordan, a prep school kid born to quiet privilege who could have so easily taken the tack of ‘poor me’ but who, instead, immediately set full sail in the very teeth of the storm, tied himself to the tiller, and silently shouted to his very personal thunder, ‘Bring it on! And, if we’re gonna’ do this, I want all you got!’”
The foundation has already raised over $400,000, one of several actions that landed Jordan as a top-ten finalist for the 2009 CNN Heroes Award, an international celebration of some of the world’s most charitable individuals making major impacts in their own communities.
Please take the time to vote for Jordan or visit his website to learn more about the Jordan Thomas Foundation.
By Trey Meyer, Senior Arts Fellow
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