Published: April 17, 2008 10:52 pm            

Hitchens named state's Big Brother of the Year

John Hitchens was duped — for a good reason.

Eight years ago, there was a young boy in his wife’s class at Westwood Elementary she feared might stray down the wrong path. Judy Hitchens asked her husband if he would be a mentor to the boy through the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Georgia Mountains “Buddy” program.

Hitchens was a bit hesitant, but she assured him they had plenty in common. When the 48-year-old white male professional with gray hair and the 8-year-old black student first met, there was as an air of awkwardness, perhaps some apprehension. The conversation stalled. As a last ditch effort, Hitchens tried the humorous route.

“You know my wife thinks you and I are just alike,” he recalled saying to his new little brother, Antoine Lovelace.

They both broke out laughing.

Eight years and a lifetime’s worth of memories later, they’re still laughing. Hitchens is now 56. Lovelace is 15. And the effort they’ve both put forth has been rewarded.

Hitchens was recently named the “Big Brother of the Year” for Georgia. He is also a candidate for the national “Big Brother of the Year” award that will be given during a conference in St. Louis from June 23-25. The national award winner will be announced April 28.

Hitchens is a Dalton resident and director of disaster relief for the Greater Chattanooga American Red Cross, where he manages about 150 volunteers.

“It kind of helps me relate to them as volunteers that you do things to provide a service, but it is nice to have the recognition come back every once in a while,” he said.

The accolades are gratifying, but Hitchens said he doesn’t volunteer to win awards. The reaction from his little brother, especially a letter Lovelace wrote as part of the application for the state award, “meant as much to me as any award that I could win because he’s really, really progressed over the years. When I read that I was really touched.”

“John treats me like his own son and Judy treats me like a son and their kids treat me like their own brother,” Lovelace wrote. “I love his family so much it’s not funny.”

Hitchens began his relationship with Lovelace as part of the Buddy program in which he would visit each week at the school for about an hour playing games and talking. They eventually progressed to the Big Brother program which afforded opportunities to interact outside of school, including baseball games, trips to restaurants and Lovelace being a part of the family’s holidays. Hitchens said Lovelace went through some tough times, shuffling between seven schools and 18 different homes. Now, Lovelace is a student at Northwest Whitfield High School where he plays football, lives in a local group home and is “flourishing,” Hitchens said.

“Antoine kind of grew up in our family,” Hitchens said. “When you look over the years at pictures of different events and holidays he’s in all those pictures.”

The only worry Hitchens had about the commitment was that while his children were growing up, they might think Lovelace was “cutting into their time.” But that wasn’t the case. His son, Jack, even applied those lessons learned from his father.

“It was really nice when my son went off to the University of Georgia and the first thing he did was sign up for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, get a buddy and become a mentor,” Hitchens said.

Members of the local Big Brothers/Big Sisters agency believe Hitchens is deserving of the kudos. Priscilla Holmes, a case manager who oversees about 60 matches, said Hitchens has been an invaluable advocate for the agency and an important part of Lovelace’s life.

“He has been a wonderful big brother to this young man for quite some time,” Holmes said. “He has on many occasions gone above and beyond the call of duty to meet this child’s needs. They come from very different worlds, but they have meshed together very well. I think he is loved dearly by the entire family.”

In February, Holmes said the local agency was notified by the state organization it was accepting nominations for the Big Brother/Big Sister of the Year. The local staff chose Hitchens. As part of the application, they submitted letters from Hitchens, Lovelace, his guardian and the local agency. Hitchens was chosen by a committee comprised of Big Brothers/Big Sisters employees from throughout the state.

The clincher for the state award may have been the first line of Lovelace’s letter, Holmes said.

“Me and John are like the white old guy and the black kid on ‘Diff’rent Strokes,’” Lovelace wrote in the application letter, referring to the 1980s television sitcom.

The only difference? The relationship between Hitchens and Lovelace is real.

“I know we’ll both keep a relationship that will go on for years and years,” Hitchens said.

        

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