Tom Harrison
The heroes who get the headlines are frequently the high-profile situations—the dramatic rescue of a driver trapped in raging flood waters or saving someone from a burning building—but there are other, more quiet heroes, who seek no acknowledgment while moving their communities forward.
Tom Harrison is one of those humble heroes who has unobtrusively made his contributions over the past couple of decades, and in the process, changed a number of lives for the better.
Harrison never got to complete his college degree, leaving the UA to take care of his terminally ill father. "I dropped out of school, got married, had two children, and never did get my degree."
But all the education he received in an agricultural curriculum didn't go to waste. Making his living as a contractor, he also started growing his own backyard garden vegetables and soon became the envy of other gardeners in the neighborhood.
Fast forward to the time his two children (Scott and Michelle) began school, and Tom, and wife, Joyce, got involved in helping children grow and learn. "One of us was always going into a school like Hudlow, Holladay, or Steele Elementary, as a den mother or den father," he says. "And we'd bring fresh garden produce with us to share with the children."
One day a teacher asked Tom if he'd like to try his hand building a school vegetable garden—that's the start of a new volunteer career that brings us to 2nd Street Children's School and what may ultimately be termed Harrison's Folly.
"My granddaughter, Reya, attends the school and her father had told them about my previous school garden history. They needed some guidance and structure on how to build and maintain a successful garden."
So Tom the contractor set to work tilling, fertilizing, irrigating and fencing a plot. Absorbing the cost of materials along with hours of his free labor, a fledgling garden survived its first year. Now in its second year, it is thriving. "It's a labor of love for me," he says. Most of the 60 children know his name and want to pick and eat the veggies on a daily basis.
"I feel good that I'm making a bit of a difference. Teachers don't have the time to do something like this, so any involvement on the part of parents and volunteers is welcomed. There are on-going challenges, but I'm happy with what has been created here," he says
So, too, is school director Jenny Douglas.
"Tom has turned a plot of uncultivated land into a gorgeous garden that all students get to participate in and learn from. He is so humble about what he has accomplished. He just shows up, creates this beauty, and doesn't seek recognition—but we want him to know he's very much appreciated," Douglas says.
Asked his takeaway at the end of a volunteer workday, he says: "A sore back."
—Lee Allen
