HAMILTON: Summit Life Outreach “Let Life Shine”
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Niagara Reporter- · September 11, 2018
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By: Ken Hamilton
Let’s face it, we support the things that mean the most to us, whether it is because of the good things that we have done or for penance for the bad things. No matter, the outcome is what matters, and I am proud to be associated with the outcomes of our own Summit Life Outreach Center at 1622 Pine Ave. at 17th Street, Niagara Falls, NY. These fine people bring life to what many consider a dying city.
Quite frankly, we need your help.
There are those who believe that people who say that they believe in the sanctity of the life do nothing to help the mother after the child is born. Those people are so very wrong. There is nothing more precious than a newborn child, and no one more responsible than a mother, despite her hardships, decides to carry her baby to term, and then love that child with all that she has. Summit is there to help, not only such women, but the fathers of those babies as well.
According to our web page, “Summit Life Outreach is an organization composed of women and men who recognizes the poor options facing women and men in an unexpected pregnancy. Together with the support of our community, we have opened a center that provides a warm, safe, confidential environment to everyone, regardless of your age, race, income, nationality, religious affiliation, or circumstances.”
It goes on to say that, “Our staff of active volunteers is trained to walk through your pregnancy with you, supporting you with the freedom to explore your fears and the issues in your life that make your pregnancy an overwhelming experience.”
For me, their mission is personal. I was once confronted with an unwanted pregnancy. I was a stupid 22-year old sailor in Virginia Beach who met and spent a few evenings with a young Navy woman whom I met there. Upon returning back to port from a 3-month cruise, the woman told me that she was carrying my child. Her roommate had advised me that she was as promiscuous as was I, and that during the duration of my cruise she had been with a dozen other guys as well. It was a different time in my life, and the last thing that I wanted was neither the woman nor the child, and I convinced her to terminate her pregnancy.
Years later after my return home to Niagara Falls I came to realize the sanctity of life, and I regretted what I had done. Even if it was my child, I had no right to request her to terminate the pregnancy. Furthermore, because there was a great deal of doubt that it was my child, I certainly had no right to make that decision for another man who may have wanted, or not, to become a father.
One day, I was walking through the Summit Park Mall with a family of my friends when I stumbled upon the closed Outreach Center. Remembering my Virginia Beach mistake, I vowed to return the next day. I did and I found out the wonderful things that those kind people were doing; I thereby dedicated myself to support their very worthwhile efforts.
I once crawled into burning building and carried a woman to safety, not initially knowing who she was. I previously had been responsibility for pulling 4 drunken sailors from their overturned vehicle that dangerously teetered on an overpass high above Military Road in Virginia Beach, and later, in Niagara Falls, waded into traffic to protect a pregnant woman who had been thrown from the passenger side of a vehicle at Hyde Park Blvd and Porter Road. But I am here to tell you, no matter what I did, it doesn’t make up for what I once did, nor does it compare to the fine work that Summit Outreach does every week in aiding your families in the decision for life, supporting them through the pregnancy, and then providing follow-up and support to them for up to 2 years thereafter.
What can you do to help?
You can help us save lives by attending the Summit’s annual fundraiser. It takes place between 7:00 – 9:00 PM on Thursday, October 11th, 2018 at Antonio’s Banquet & Conference Center, 7708 Niagara Falls Blvd. Niagara Falls, NY. Tickets are $50, well-spent.
Please call (716)298-8600 for more information and tell them that you want to be at my table – and let life shine.
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