Jim Amidon — About six weeks ago, I was at my desk very early in the morning when Martha Riddle, a long-time employee with our Campus Services team, came into my office with some bad news.
Martha told me that our friend, Bill Melvin, had been diagnosed with cancer — esophageal cancer — and she wanted to do something to help.
I’m not a doctor and have never played one on TV, but I do know that esophageal cancer is a particularly nasty form of the disease. So immediately I was interested in doing what I could to get involved.
For those who don’t know Bill, he’s worked in food service at Wabash for about 30 years. Wabash has some loyal employees with long tenures, but that’s a really long time for someone in that kind of work.
Martha and I talked for a while and couldn’t really come up with a concrete idea of how the folks at Wabash could reach out to Bill and his family.
Enter the College’s food service provider, Bon Appetit Management Company.
Martha and I contacted Mary Jo Arthur at Bon Appetit and told her that we were interested in having some sort of fund-raiser to help offset Bill’s rapidly growing stack of medical bills. But, we were still a week or so from the start of classes and the College felt like a ghost town.
Given a bit more time, we hatched a plan.
Mary Jo reported back that her company, Bon Appetit, would graciously agree to donate everything necessary for an old fashioned cookout on the College Mall — burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, chips, cookies, and drinks.
We partnered with the Sphinx Club, which organizes weekly talks in the Chapel, and planned to have the cookout immediately after a talk given by Associate Dean of Students Rick Warner.
We got The Bachelor to give us some free publicity and we sent out a few emails leading up to the event.
All we asked was that folks come out to show their support for Bill and his family — to demonstrate that we all look out for one another here at Wabash — and make a small monetary donation in exchange for the lunch.
Last Thursday was the big day. Of course, Mary Jo, Kecia Tatman, and all the folks at Bon Appetit had everything set up and ready to go.
My concern was whether or not we’d have a good crowd of students since so few of them actually know who Bill is.
See, if you work in food service or campus services at Wabash, you’re part of a brigade of unsung heroes. People like Bill Melvin prepare, cater, serve, and clean up meals thousands of times over, and they do so without recognition or honor.
But the place simply couldn’t function without them. Period.
When our freshmen arrive at Wabash, we talk to them about community; we remind them that they have not come to a college, but have become part of a big family. I really hoped they would respond to our call to action on Bill’s behalf.
They did.
Thanks to Bon Appetit’s generosity, we were able to raise a nice chunk of money to help Bill and his family in their fight.
Martha’s dream of being able to show our support for someone who has done so much for others — so selflessly — became reality.
That got me thinking, especially when I opened Friday’s Journal Review and saw a story on the front page about a fundraiser for Laura McCarty, who also is battling cancer. It occurred to me then that about every week there’s a caring group of motorcyclists taking a ride to support someone in this community, or some organization is hosting a benefit to help those less fortunate.
It makes me feel good to know the lessons we’re imparting in our freshmen when they arrive here are grounded in reality. Here in Montgomery County, we do look out for one another, and we come together to support our family and friends when trouble strikes.
And that makes this a pretty special place to live.
