Bolingbrook Resident Aims to Give Back to Community

Freddie Thomas simply wants to give back to her community.

That’s why the 28-year Bolingbrook resident says she volunteers her time as a member of the Bolingbrook High School F.A.N.S.S. (Friends and Neighbors Supporting Students) program, spending almost two hours a week in the cafeteria with students.

“I just walk around. I talk to the kids. I smile at them,” she said. “I try to encourage them. I let them know we care.”

Thomas, whose youngest daughter is a BHS graduate, takes great pride in the high school that now houses two of her four grandchildren as well.

“Bolingbrook High School is awesome,” she said. “And we love this town. It’s a great town.”

The now-retired AT&T customer service representative heard about F.A.N.S.S. several years ago and, after some urging from VVSD Superintendent Dr. James Mitchem at the annual Bolingbrook Clergy Association World Day of Prayer Breakfast, “I said, you know what, I’m going to do this…and I did.”

“It makes me feel good because we have got to give back to the kids. They need us,” Thomas said. “It might seem like they’re not paying attention to us, but they are. They appreciate is. This is a good program and I look forward to coming.”

In addition to F.A.N.S.S., Thomas is active in The Progressives-Harambe, Inc., a community-based non-profit women’s organization dedicated to helping children educationally, culturally, socially and emotionally. The group also provides support for families in emergency situations.

Her husband, Robert, a retired school teacher and former football and track coach at Proviso East, is also deeply involved in the community, serving as Assistant Pastor at New Hope Church and an assistant girls basketball coach at St. Joseph High School in Westchester.

“This is what you have to do to make our communities better,” she said, urging her fellow residents to become involved in a program like F.A.N.S.S. “I’m just trying to give back.”

VVSD is hoping to expand the F.A.N.S.S. program. Interested community members can receive more information by contacting F.A.N.S.S. coordinator Diane Parro at DParro@comcast.net.

Photo: Freddie Thomas greets Bolingbroook High School student Tehniath Ansari during her weekly volunteer shift in the Bolingbrook High School cafeteria as a member of the F.A.N.S.S program.

Submitted by Valley View School District 365U