Trevor Thomas…The one that made every person in the room laugh hysterically and never skipped a chance to give someone a compliment or lift a hand to help.

”Be somebody that makes everybody feel like somebody” is a quote used in this Washington Post article that perfectly explained the type of person that Trevor was.

I vividly remember meeting Trevor for the very first time at a bonfire during the first week of school my freshman year. I immediately knew we would get along super well because our personalities were so similar and he was just simply the type of person I like to be around.

What I didn’t know at the time was how much of an impact he would have on my life. 

The group of friends that we had freshman year share a bond that is unbreakable because of Trevor being the light that brought us all together. The memories made this year are unmatched, and I always find myself reminiscing on these moments.

To share a few specific moments, Trevor lived in the apartment above my roomates and I, and he would always come down to borrow our hairdryer or to get help putting his contacts in. I laugh when I say, I don’t think he ever figured that one out.

Sundays consisted of watching football as a group and sometimes even playing a game outside in the parking lot at the commons.

And let’s not forget about the interesting foods that Trevor ate like graham crackers in a bowl of milk or the little ice cream cups with chocolate milk poured over it.

Or the time he pranked me at Dunkin’ by telling me to order a “French Niller.”

The list of memories could go on..

I miss him dearly.

I wanted to start something to honor Trevor, something that was special to him and could be continued each year. I remember a story his mother told me about the time Trevor was three years old in Philadelphia and saw a homeless man in the streets for the first time. He immediately wanted to give his blanket to this man. This was just the start of Trevor’s kind and compassionate heart to all.

Trevor’s mother, Brenda Thomas has inspired me to make something good out of something bad as she has been doing for strangers ever since the loss of her son. She makes sure each recipient receives a random acts of kindness card. Her strength, support, and encouragement is admirable.

The Thomas family has become a huge part of my life, and after being around them, it is clear to see where Trevor got his kind heart and goofy personality from. I am deeply grateful to call them close friends.

After making a few phone calls, I reached Campus Police Officer Russell and we immediately came up with a plan to make something happen. Chad Long donated ten drawstring bags to be filled with donations that were given by students and faculty on campus as well as others as the flyer circulated the internet.

It felt amazing to get the entire campus involved in this random acts of kindness, and even outsiders from Trevor’s hometown. I know Trevor is proud and smiling in Heaven.

His parents expressed their gratitude to everyone involved in making this a success. We even had several bags full of leftover items that were donated to City Mission of Fayette County.

The bags were handed out on December 13th by myself, Trevor’s parents, and Officer Russell to homeless people in the streets of Uniontown. We wanted to be present and physically hand the bags out to these people for our first time doing this.

After walking some distance on train tracks in search of people, we came across a tent, but unfortunately nobody was there at the moment, so we left two bags. We then found two gentlemen on Main Street in Uniontown, one of which played the guitar and kindly played us a song.

The face to face encounters and interactions we had with these people made this experience more real and humbling.

The appreciation of these people that received the bags and the people in charge at City Mission where the extra items were donated was heartwarming.

I personally want to thank Trevor’s parents, Officer Russell, Chad Long, my peers, and anyone that donated or shared the flyer for making the first random act of kindness to honor Trevor at Penn State Fayette a huge success.

I still have a few bags that were saved to be personally handed out. If anyone knows of someone in need, please reach out to me via email. (cmc7073@psu.edu)

Let’s continue to spread love and kindness to all in the new year 🙂