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 Connor’s Heroes
Even superheroes need some sidekicks
By Lisa Schaffner
Superhero. A fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers. That’s how Webster’s Dictionary defines it. Well, Mr. Webster, I hate to break it to you. We’ve got a real superhero here in Richmond, and 8-year-old Connor Goodwin is looking for more heroes to join the fight.
“He’s an amazing kid, full of life, incredibly smart. He likes to ride his bike, swim in the pool and play flag football. He’s a perfectionist, which is not a good thing, but he comes by it naturally,” gushes Lisa Goodwin, Connor’s proud mother.
This outgoing second-grader is a cancer survivor, diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 22 months. Two months after his last treatment — May 2006 — his parents founded Connor’s Heroes, an organization that has built a “community of heroes” to help kids and their families as they battle childhood cancer in metro Richmond. As Connor and his mom explain it, all of the people who helped him and his family are heroes.
“We started Connor’s Heroes because we had such a great support system supplied by our church, friends and family. They mowed our yard, made us meals and ran errands. But a lot of families don’t have that,” said Goodwin, who is co-founder and managing director of Connor’s Heroes. The nonprofit organization, through its volunteers, assists families through a half-dozen programs such as Heroes Bags and Backpacks, and Superheroes and Sidekicks.
“Superheroes and Sidekicks is our new program where we pair community volunteers with families,” explains Goodwin. “The volunteer sidekick could be paired with the family to run errands or pick up groceries. Or the sidekick could be paired with a sibling who needs attention, someone to play games with them. The sidekick could even be paired with the cancer patient who needs a buddy.”
 As part of Bags and Backpacks, volunteers stuff bags and backpacks with dozens of essentials and comfort items. “Every child diagnosed with cancer and treated in Richmond receives a backpack full of stuff including toys, games, crafts and DVD players,” Goodwin says. “Parents receive tote bags containing notecards, hand lotion and vouchers for complimentary house cleanings and meals and other great stuff.”
For volunteer opportunities, visit www.connorsheroes.org. On the volunteer page, you’ll be asked the types of opportunities that interest you, what skills you possess, and days and times that best suit your schedule.
I volunteered for a recent Connor’s Heroes fundraising concert and had a great time with Connor. Now it’s your chance to Give Back and become a hero in our community.
BEERS AND DOGS
If you love your dog and like a cold beer on a hot day, I’ve got the one-time Giving Back volunteer opportunity for you! Fetch a Cure is recruiting 300 volunteers for the World Beer Festival on June 12 on Brown’s Island, where more than 80 breweries will be on tap.
Fetch board member and volunteer Jay White says volunteers, who must be 21, are needed to pour beverages during one of two shifts.
Fetch works to improve pet health, most specifically in the areas of cancer and aging for dogs and cats, according to its Web site, www.fetchacure.com. To volunteer for the beer festival or other Fetch programs, call 804-527-3535 or e-mail
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READING OUT LOUD
Summer vacations may be in full swing, but the show must go on at Virginia Voice — a nonprofit audio information service that broadcasts daily on specially tuned radios to 1,400 vision-impaired residents in Central Virginia.
“We need 100 volunteers a week to read current publications like the Richmond Times-Dispatch, USA Today, Style and Soap Opera Digest,” explains program director Rebecca Emmett. “Volunteer readers must have a strong voice, wide vocabulary, and be committed to coming in and doing a good job!”
If you’d like to be a reader, visit www.virginiavoice.org or call 804-266-2477. Volunteer orientations are tentatively scheduled for 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. June 17 and Aug. 19.
I recently volunteered as a guest reader for Virginia Voice’s 30th Anniversary Celebration. For me, each word is filled with emotion because you know it’s the lifeline connecting a listener to a world he can only hear. Fill that void for someone by Giving Back!
Until next time. …
Lisa Schaffner, a former WRIC-TV anchor, is public relations director for UNOS. Contact her at
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