BUFFALO, N.Y. — We brought you DeeAnn's story a year ago, she lost her son in a 2021 motorcycle accident. In his memory, she started a scholarship at his alma mater, Canisius High School to send a student on the same type of service trip that had a profound impact on her son's life.
We caught up with her and the first recipient, of the William Michael Tompkins Memorial Scholarship, 16-year-old James Sutton.
"It was life-changing for me. I couldn't even really put it into words what it really meant for me, it was meant a multitude of things."
The scholarship paid to send James to Puerto Rico on a Canisius High School service emersion trip, where students go to areas in need to give of themselves and do what needs to be done to help out.
James says he thought it was gonna be just, but once he got there, he realized it was going to be a powerful experience.
"We helped this 80-year-old woman. She was swindled by contractors and that was my first experience meeting her, and we ended up restoring her house, rebuilding it, repainting it and everything. It was beautiful and she came home and didn't even know we did it and I just will never forget the look on that woman's face. It was priceless what it meant to her."
The trip has inspired him to the point that he dreams of starting a non-profit group to go to areas in need and continue his outreach in helping people.
For DeeAnn, she says it feels like she is fulfilling her purpose as well. "He's so confident in what he's doing and driven and the trip from my son helped him get to that place."
After William died, DeeAnn made it her mission to turn her grief into action. She launched a fundraising campaign to create the scholarship and raise the $50,000 needed to have it endowed so it will live on in perpetuity.
DeeAnn says William's spirit has guided her every step of the way.
Because of William's spirit and DeeAnn's drive, every year, students like James will be able to go on the same trip that changed William's life when he walked through the halls at Canisius and opened his eyes to the true meaning of the school's motto, "men for others".
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