Good work, Ta’myra
Published 9:03 pm Monday, June 15, 2015
With temperatures headed toward 100 this week, you might not be thinking about blankets — but Ta’myra Freeman is.
Even as the mercury threatens to pop the tops of old-fashioned thermometers, Ta’myra continues working on a blanket-collection project she began during the winter, when she collected and distributed about 100 blankets to homeless people around the area.
“I want to give them blankets, because they need it, and I don’t see a lot of people giving them blankets,” Ta’myra said in an interview with the Suffolk News-Herald last week. “I want them to feel loved and cared about — like they are important.”
That’s a pretty grown-up way of looking at the world for a rising sixth-grade student. But that’s the kind of girl Ta’myra is, apparently. This summer, as she prepares to transition from Kilby Shores Elementary School to Forest Glen Middle School, Ta’myra expects to launch yet another philanthropic campaign — a nonprofit that would distribute bags of toiletry items to senior citizens in hospitals and nursing homes.
Most kids Ta’myra’s age are thinking right now about how to get their parents to take them to the beach or to Busch Gardens during their summer break. Ta’myra, however, sets a great example of altruism and community support.
Of course, a 10-year-old cannot do such a thing without help, and Ta’myra (and Suffolk) owe a great deal of thanks to the Sigma Gamma Rho, the sorority to which her grandmother, Dianette Ferguson, belongs. Ta’myra has partnered with the ladies to accomplish her feat. The relationship is a great example of the kind of mentoring work the sorority does with girls in the community.
Good work, Sigma Gamma Rho. And good work, Ta’myra.