Tommy Raskin, the 25-year-old son of US Congressman Jamie Raskin and his wife Sarah, died by suicide New Year’s Eve 2020. The Acts of Goodness Project in Honor of Tommy Raskin, and in Support of the Raskin Family is a local project launched by the McDonough Family. It’s gone worldwide.
A few of the efforts being made in Tommy’s memory:
I’m delivering groceries to families in Maryland struggling financially.
I’m an 8th grader donating my Christmas money to the Safe Haven Farm Sanctuary.
Eleven churches in “Field of Hope” are donating $16,548 in honor of Tommy to help give farmers overseas training and tools to end global hunger.
I’m sending thank-you cards to frontline workers.
Kids are donating toys, stuffed animals, and clothes to Children’s Hospital.
I’m donating stimulus checks to anti-hunger and pro-justice groups in El Salvador.
I’m giving food all week to unemployed restaurant workers in Baltimore.
Trash cleanup is going on in the Black Forest of Germany to make a better environment for animals and people.
I adopted an elephant in Tommy’s name through Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
I donated 15 new pairs of boots to people in need.
I donated to NAMI and will do a good deed every day in Tommy’s honor for 21 days.
A husband and wife have started “Tommy’s Tuesday” when they go vegan.
I will always speak up for the underdog in honor of Tommy and I’m donating to Animal Outlook.
I’m getting 6 birdhouses with plaques that say, “In Memory of Tommy Raskin and his love of animals” to give to all the Montgomery County Schools where Tommy went, including TPES, Eastern, and Blair High School.
I’m doing one good act every day all year, including helping an elderly couple fix up their house and I cleaned and delivered my son’s old tricycle to a young girl who needed one.
I made 120 sandwiches for Shepherd’s Table.
I called a family member I haven’t spoken to in many months because of a misunderstanding and it was so wonderful.
From the Raskin Family: “We are touched by the thousands of contributions people have made from all over America — and all over the world — to the new Tommy Raskin Memorial Fund for People and Animals. This living Memorial — guided by Tommy’s values and led by Tommy’s sisters, cousin, and friends from Harvard Law School, Amherst College, and Montgomery Blair High School — will continue permanently. With already nearly $1 million raised, the Fund will be able to provide generous support every year to the causes Tommy championed, including ending global poverty and hunger, promoting human rights, defending animals against violence and suffering, and advancing global peace and non-violence.”