Celebrating the angels and role models who make this world a better place.
Profiles En-Courage-ment
Our Youth Do Set Good Examples
Posted in Role model on the Nov 25, 2007
This is the kind of kid that you really want to clone and have in every community in America. He is the kind of kid that sees City Hall doing nothing about a problem and then sets out to fix the problem himself. This kid is Jack McShane.
Jack, his mother and younger brother left New Orleans before Katrina barreled down on their city. Jack’s dad Patrick remained in New Orleans to continue working. Jack stayed with family in Indianapolis during the storm and was forced to stay through the fall semester because of the damage to their home in New Orleans.
When they returned home to their father at Christmas, Jack was stunned to see the condition of City Park. This was the park that he spent most of his free time. The grass brown or overgrown with weeds. He’d tell his mom about the poor condition of the park and how no one was doing anything about it. He and his brother contacted a number of volunteer organizations hoping to help rebuild his community but they were turned down because they were too young.
Then one day he saw a neighbor load a lawn mower into her car and Jack inquired about what she was doing. Kristine Kobila explained that she was part of a small group of volunteers mowing the grass and cleaning up at City Park. Jack asked her if he could help and he has been there every single Saturday morning. According to the organization, Mow-Rons, he is the most consistently reliable member of the volunteer group. His mom says he has missed quite a few sleep overs and parties because of his dedication to cleaning up the park.
Now don’t you want a few kids living in your area with the same kind of passion and dedication to community as Jack McShane.
You can read more about Jack and the Mow-Rons at -
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-08-15-neworleans-teen_N.htm
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/24/assignment_america/main3202058.shtml
http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2007-08-28/politics.php
If you would like to donate to the Mow-Rons so they can buy more equipment, you can do so through the website that Jack McShane built for the organization at http://www.mow-rons.org/Site/Donate.html