Support our local heroes — the celebrated and the unknown

Iam a Thunder fan. All season long I’ll be at Chesapeake Energy Arena or glued to the television at home watching and cheering them on. But …

Last week I attended the graduation ceremonies of two nonprofit organizations — Remerge and Jesus House. Both are helping people put their lives back together on slim budgets.

Remerge is a program for mothers who’ve fallen into addiction, lost custody of their children and are on their way to prison. I listened to the graduating women say Remerge has helped them get their lives back on track, discover how to deal with pain and loss in ways other than drugs, find support in 12-step groups, learn parenting skills, be reunited with their children, finish their education and hold a job.

Jesus House is a recovery program for men and women experiencing homelessness, addiction and mental health issues. To be a graduate of Jesus House means they have actually lived there for a year or more and when they leave they go with a high school diploma and often an additional certification. They also have a job, housing, sobriety, mental stability and are being reunited with families.

The challenge for our community is to absolutely celebrate our Thunder heroes, and at the same time not forget the folks that nobody sees, nobody knows.

Maybe we, the fans, could follow the example of the Thunder organization, individual players and their foundations, who collectively give back millions of dollars every year to nonprofits in our state.

What if each of us gave the same amount of money we spend on Thunder tickets to the nonprofit of our choice that is offering people second chances? What if?