Faces
Fla. youth proves age no issue when it counts M
atthew Baar’s assignment in his middle school social stud- ies class was to come up with
a pretend service project. He took the assignment a bit fur- ther than that, and the results made him a local hero. A member of Living Lord Lutheran Church in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., Matthew at age 13 put his fundraising idea called “Change for Change” into action. He distrib- uted empty bottles with a special label he made to collect coins. The money went to All Children’s Hos- pital, where his brother Joey has received treatments for leukemia. Hoping to raise perhaps $1,000, “Change for Change” became much bigger than the Baar family could have imagined when the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team chose Mat- thew as a Lightning Community
100 plus
102: Dorothy Klee, Light of Christ, Turlock, Calif. 101: Ellen Gobel, Prince of Peace, Eagle River, Wis. 100: Bob Atkinson, Trinity, Mt. Healthy, Ohio; Ethel Brant, Manns- ville, Elliottsburg, Pa.; Eunice Haslam, Faith, Pioneer, Calif.; Helen Hoffnagle, Messiah, South Williams- port, Pa.; Clara Kallies, Emanuel, Seguin, Texas; Miriam Mowery, St. John, Siglerville, Pa.; Esther Lee Mun- son, Trinity, Madelia, Minn.; Martha Nurmi, All Saints, Wakefield, Mich.; Fred Stern, First, San Marcos, Texas.
Share your accomplishments, awards and 100+ members in “Faces.” Send to:
lutheran@thelutheran.org or “Faces,” The Lutheran, 8765 W. Hig gins Rd., Chicago, IL 60631.
Matthew Baar’s “Change for Change” service project originally netted more than $2,500 for the All Chil- dren’s Hospital but grew when he was awarded funds as the Lightning Community Hero. The honor goes to people who are using their lives to make the greater Tampa Bay, Fla., community a bet- ter place.
Hero. The award included a trip to a game along with $50,000, which he asked to be split equally between All Children’s and the Children’s Dream Fund, which had provided brother Joey with a dream vacation a couple of years ago. “I hadn’t really been a Lightning fan, but now I am,” said Matthew, who
enjoyed the game, as well as getting to go to the locker room and meet the coach. “Now I am doing a new one called ‘Change for Dreams.’ I just need to make more labels and get more bottles.” Matthew’s dad, Jim, said he is not surprised that his son came up with the
idea. “He has always thought highly of his brother,” said Baar, whose son Joey was born with Down syndrome. “We were sitting around the table one night talking as a family, and we said, ‘Let’s do it.’ ” The family has raised about $9,000 so far, much of it a few coins at a time. “One of the big lessons we’ve learned is that it doesn’t matter if it’s $5 or $10 or whatever it is. It’s the act of giving that is important,” Baar said. Matthew’s sister Amanda, a high school senior, also is getting involved in
the latest efforts, which will provide for special parties for the patients at All Children’s.
Now 14, Matthew’s message to other children who want to help is simple: “It doesn’t matter how old you are. You can do it. You can help out.”
Jeff Favre Favre is a contributing editor of The Lutheran.
October 2012 43
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