Founder’s Message The Story and History behind the Mission and Vision of The TallMan Foundation - Part 1 The Story
At the heart of the TallMan story is a fundamental realization which arose out of the bizarre encounter between our family and the young men who planned and executed the kidnapping of our 18-yr old son in 2003. We saw the worst of the society in the blind choices of the kidnappers apparently justified by the have-nots position. In the beginning, I felt betrayed. But one of the reasons our son came home was because of the larger decisions of two of the same young men. I was and remain profoundly moved by the clear realization that any of us can make selfish, self-absorbed choices affecting the lives of others in the most negative way. At the same time, we have an untapped well of bravery and unlimited humanity. And we can choose to take the risk into our deeper and truer selves as those two young men ultimately did. The experience deepened my conviction in the larger goodness and humanness of all people but, in particular, young men who are often overlooked or dismissed in our society.
The History
My husband was the person who planted the seed for forming a charitable foundation in my mind when, many, many years prior to the kidnapping, he pointed out that in Trinidad the wealthy class had little history of philanthropy. He was citing trust funds and foundations of families in the US like the Fulbrights and Rockefellers, saying that we simply had no equivalents at that time despite having had innumerable monied families. In that moment, I commited to establishing some sort of fund at some point in our life. I figured it had to start somewhere even in families of more moderate means. One night later that year, I saw a story on the CBS television program, "60 Minutes" of an American couple who chose to go to an African village to complete the work of their missionary daughter killed by the same villagers she was working among, in order to pay tribute to their daughter's life. I was blown away by this story and decided that that the moment to establish the charitable fund had presented itself. It would be a concrete way to show appreciation for our son's life. The "60 Minutes" story also said to me that the experience of the kidnapping meant that the fund should be geared to the lives of young men especially those who lived alienated or dismissed in our society for one reason or another. I wrote to Fr Jason Gordon and to Fr Gerry Pantin, both of whom had supported us as a family throughout the kidnapping ordeal, offering support for their work. The offer for creation of a new project was pursued by Fr Jason who asked for the purchase of cameras for a Photography Club for youth in Gonzales. By this time I had invited Gladys Pinard and Gwynneth Bernard to come on board to support the fundraising required to supplement an initial donation from our family which seeded the fund. TallMan Foundation therefore came into being primarily as a money fund which I planned to grow into one supporting young men historically overlooked. to be cont'd‌.
Part 2 in following edition of newsletter‌..