LEAVING A LEGACY
LETTER FROM A BOARD MEMBER - JIM HOLLOMAN
It was Christmas of 1988 and Jim was tasked by his wife Becky to help fulfill a 12-year-old boy’s wish list. Becky was a member of the Junior Women’s Association of Tulsa Boys’ Home. The Chicago Bulls were in their heyday with Michael Jordan’s basketball skills and every youngster wanted their piece of the action. So finding a size small Chicago Bulls jacket was proving to be quite a task. After several unsuccessful shopping trips and increasing grumblings by Jim, they finally found a store that would special order the jacket - success at last! Jim experienced a seminal moment when he went with Becky to deliver the present.
The joy on the young boy’s face, his emotional hug and heartfelt expression “This is my very first Christmas present ever, thank you!” changed Jim’s sense of shopping grumbles to one of humble passion for the mission of Tulsa Boys’ Home. Never again would he be ungrateful for the blessings in his own life, and he would look for ways to help young people to a better life. Jim stated “my affinity for the Boys’ Home was sealed in that moment”.
Jim went on to join the Tulsa Boys’ Home Board of Directors in 1990. In his time, he has been instrumental in the transformation of the campus. He has served as Chairman of the Board, was co-chair of the Vision 2000 campaign to rebuild the campus, has chaired the TBH Endowment Committee for 27 years, and chaired the search committee that hired Gregg Conway as the Executive Director in 1997.
Having been involved with TBH for over 33 years, Jim and Becky wanted to leave something of permanence behind for when they’re gone. So they made the decision to leave a portion of their estate to TBH as a Legacy Gift. “We care very much about the programs and the outcomes of the Home, we’ve seen the work firsthand with the boys and we’ve seen the changes that come about – if you’ve done all that for all these years, you care that Tulsa Boys’ Home continues for another 100 years.”
Jim & Becky feel that the work of TBH is a critical long-term project that needs to continue because “we need to help make the best of our young men.” We need to help them become self-sufficient, get an education and develop their self-esteem - then we haven’t wasted another young man’s life. “It’s good for the boy, it’s good for us, and it’s good for society as a whole.”