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Athena Ford ’01 memorialized with MMI day of service The late Athena Smith Ford ’01 loved to help others. When she was only in the third grade, she wrote a letter to her city’s mayor protesting what she saw as the inhumane treatment of animals in the city. This sparked a lifelong commitment to humanitarian efforts at the local, state, national, and international levels. During her time at MMI, Athena started a chapter of Amnesty International, a worldwide organization focused on human rights, and was viewed as a local expert on issues regarding child slavery and prisoners of conscience. In addition to educating her classmates about these issues, she became a public speaker, gave many talks to local Athena S. Ford ’01 community organizations about the topics, and eventually served on the Amnesty International Mid-Atlantic region’s Regional Planning Board. Athena also started a Yellow Ribbon Club while at MMI to bring awareness to the epidemic of teen suicide. At 16, in lieu of gifts, Athena asked her party guests to bring non-perishable food items and then made an anonymous donation of more than 500 pounds of items to a local food pantry. In August of 2001, more than a month before the September 11 terrorist attacks, she worked with a local state representative to organize The junior class cleaned up Freeland Public Park. a public demonstration to bring awareness of the abuses by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Athena’s efforts to make the world a better and brighter place have served as her lasting legacy since she passed away on October 23, 2016, as a result of complications from injuries she received in an automobile accident in October of 2015. A line in her obituary stated that “her entire life was marked by a sincere empathy, care, and concern for others, in fact, for all living beings.” Athena’s father, Tom Ford, said his daughter made her own
decision as a child to fight back against the injustices she saw in the world and educate her classmates and the general public about these causes. MMI’s seventh and 12th grades volunteered at Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails. He said, “Her decisions to devote so much of her energies to helping people and fighting against injustices were entirely her own. As a child, if she saw something that she thought was wrong, she spoke up. Athena always had a seemingly innate sense of justice. She was convinced that a small number of people could change the world.” To honor Athena Ford’s legacy, the MMI Class of 2001, led by Nina C. Zanon ’01 and Allison Hudak ’01, created the Athena S. Ford ’01 Endowed Fund for Community Service. The funds are designated to be used for the annual Athena S. Ford ’01 Day of Service, when MMI students will perform acts of community service in Athena’s name and learn about the importance of serving the community. The inaugural event in October saw students travel to six locations throughout Greater Hazleton to perform cleanup and maintenance projects under the direction of MMI faculty advisers. The worksites included MMI’s athletic fields, Greater Hazleton Rails to Trails, Valley East Little League complex, Country Heart Farm, Eckley Miners Village, Freeland Public Park, and the Freeland YMCA. “We thought the Day of Service was an appropriate and thoughtful choice for MMI,” Athena’s father said. “Hopefully, the day will spark something of Athena’s spirit of generosity towards others in some MMI students and lead them to decide to incorporate selfless service to others as a permanent part of their lives. If Athena’s story does that, then we would all feel some comfort that this awful tragedy sprouted something important and lasting.” Athena’s legacy has spread far beyond her MMI family. (continued on page 10)
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Ninth grade student volunteered at Country Heart Farm.
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