Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, December 5, 1994                   TAG: 9412220061
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

A PAT ON THE BACK TO:

Age: 13

School: Woodrow Wilson Middle School, Roanoke

Year: Eighth grade

What he does: Blaine volunteers weekly at The Rescue Mission of Roanoke, preparing and serving meals to the homeless and indigent. He began working at the Rescue Mission as a way of dealing with his grief over the death of a friend. Blaine had met John Crowe, a former newspaper editor, author and strong supporter of the shelter, when Crowe helped with a project at Blaine's school. When Crowe died of cancer, Blaine took his place at the mission.

Blaine and Crowe had become good friends, and ``instead of kicking myself for the rest of my life because I couldn't save his,'' Blaine wanted to save Crowe's legacy.

``I missed John a lot, and I didn't ever want to forget him, so I did something I thought would help me and would help keep John alive inside everyone.''

Joy Sylvester-Johnson, the Rescue Mission's director of development, said, ``Blaine is younger than the volunteers we normally let work in the kitchen. What impresses me about him is that he wanted to do this as a living memorial. He's very mature for someone his age.''

Blaine has also worked with mentally challenged students at Monterey Elementary School and plans to increase his hours at the Rescue Mission.

Other activities: Blaine plays alto saxophone in the school band and is on the soccer team. He's a new addition to the wrestling team and will start baseball in the spring. Drawing and reading are his hobbies, and he hopes to become an illustrator.

What he's learned: ``It's important to help people. My image of the homeless has changed; I thought they were just street people, thugs, and bums, but they're just ordinary people who don't have the things we do.''

Obstacles: ``Sometimes it's hard to fit everything in. My parents always help.''

This twice-monthly column spotlights a teen-ager who is using his or her own initiative to make a difference in our neighborhoods, schools and communities. We think they deserve a public thank-you for helping other people. Nominations are sent in by our readers (see guidelines below).