The G-HAMP Movement

Last week my high school held a memorial service for my friend Marquis Porter who died in Iraq Jan 11th 2009. It was such a great gesture by the school and a lot of old faces showed up. Its was bitter sweet because I got to reconnect with people but I wish it was for a better reason.

Marquis and I went to school together for 5 years. Even though he was two years older than me our school was very small and everyone was very close. I remember him as being fun loving and just a great person to be around. We took the train and played lacrosse together.

During the memorial service people shared their stories about teaching or going to school with Marquis. Everyone said the same thing. He was a bright, loved life and made everyone he was around a better person. The hardest part about hearing these stories was realizing how much people can mean to you with out even know it. You don’t know what you got til its gone.

He was a very driven person. He grew up in the Fidelis Way projects of Brighton. He would take a bus and train to get to school. Sometimes waking before his mother. With after school activities he wouldn’t get home until 7 or 8 at night, only to start on his home work and do it all over again. He did it everyday because he loved the school and what he was doing. After hearing everyone talk about there memories its clear that we loved him too.

While its sad that such an amazing person had to loose his life he can be an insperation to us all. He took full advantage of the opportunities that were presented to him and make a meaningful impact on this world.

I also have to say thank you to my school who took in Marquis even though he wasn’t a “typical” private school student. During my time there they embraced many kids like Marquis who’s parents didn’t have the means to send there kids to a school like that. Many of those kids because my closest friends.

To me this is a story of taking a chance on people and giving them the tools they need to succeed. I just finish a book called Outliers by Malcum Gladwell that talks about this topic. He says the only real difference between “rich” and “poor” families is the opportunities they are presented with and if they can take advantage of them. I hope one day G-HAMP Apparel will be able to give people those same opportunities to succeed.

We will all miss you Marquis. Thank you for your service to our country and for being the person we all knew and loved. R.I.P.

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