New youth award remembers the Christmas spirit

Jonesboro teen embodies character of her deceased friend, receives first award

Published: August 11, 2012

By Juliane Pierini
Arkansas Catholic

Social Action Director Tom Navin (left), Amy Mitchell and Liz Tingquist stand together outside Morris Hall Chapel at St. John Center in Little Rock.

Social Action Director Tom Navin (left), Amy Mitchell and Liz Tingquist stand together outside Morris Hall Chapel at St. John Center in Little Rock.

The spirit of Tommy Christmas will live on in the Diocese of Little Rock for years to come.

Christmas, a 17-year-old convert from Paragould, made an impact on past participants and leaders of the Catholic Charities Summer Institute and diocesan leaders decided they wanted to let others know about Christmas.

The Spirit of Tommy Christmas Award was awarded for the first time at the institute July 9-13. Amy Mitchell, 18, received the award for her dedicated service and hospitable attitude while participating in the institute. Mitchell, a recent graduate of Greene County Tech High School in Paragould and an active member of Blessed Sacrament Church in Jonesboro, said the award is dear to her because it honors her friend.

Christmas died December 2011 from an undetected heart condition. He was a member of St. Mary Church in Paragould and an active participant in the youth ministry. Christmas converted to Catholicism in his freshman year of high school after years of interest in the Church.

"He asked me to teach him the Hail Mary in the fourth grade," Mitchell recalled. "He really liked how unified the Church was."

Being the only Catholic in his family, Christmas made an effort to be involved in his church community and occasionally attended Mass with Mitchell and her family at Blessed Sacrament Church.

The two friends participated in diocesan youth events and attended C2SI in their freshman, sophomore and junior years. C2SI is a five-day immersion experience for teens at St. John Center in Little Rock designed to teach them about the Church's social teachings through interactive classroom learning, community service and Scripture study. The students come face-to-face with the issues of poverty, racial discrimination and social injustice. Some of the service sites include the Pulaski County Juvenile Detention Center, downtown Little Rock soup kitchens and shelters and the Arkansas Rice Depot. The students work together through prayer and discussion to come up with solutions to the problems they encounter.

Christmas and Mitchell looked forward to the event every summer, making the recent institute extremely difficult.

"I have to go through a lot of firsts without Tommy ... I felt alone the whole time," Mitchell said.

Despite Christmas' absence, he was not forgotten by the students who attended the institute with him in the past.

"He had a real passion for social justice ... and embodied the spirit of Catholic social justice," Liz Tingquist, youth and campus ministry director for the Diocese of Little Rock, said. "He had a desire to make a difference."

Tingquist and a small group of adult volunteers selected Christmas' friend, Mitchell, for the award. The award will be given out annually.

"She was very enthusiastic and hospitable to the people she encountered," Tingquist said.

Mitchell was surprised and humbled when she was presented with the award and only thought about her best friend.

"He is just a beautiful person. I am so blessed that God put him in my life," Mitchell said.

The award itself is a certificate and a charitable donation to a charity of the recipient's choice.

Mitchell, who plans to attend Arkansas State University beginning this month, and the Christmas family found a to-do list that he had written and one of the items was to volunteer at a local animal shelter. Mitchell may donate to the shelter in memory of Christmas.

"He liked knowing that he made a difference. We were glad we could help that much," Mitchell said.