Joel's Biography
Early Years of Joel M. Thomas
Joel Michael Thomas was born on March 15, 2004, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. He is the second of the biological children of Joses Michael and Deyon Soeh Thomas. Joel’s family relocated to Southern California shortly after he was born – setting the stage for his transformative journey.
Conception and Birth of Martha's Love
At this point in his life journey, Joel had thought about how to best focus on his academics and athletic endeavors. However, God had something big and better in store for him – the awareness of the real purpose of his existence: a deep empathy for less fortunate kids and the forgotten population of society. To effectuate the true impact of this awakening, there was no better way to experience that than being over fifteen hundred miles away from home, living in a small college town, that had no real economic resources and a good portion of the population having to live on the bare necessities of life. This brought back to memory stories his parents had told him about their own experiences. During this real-life reflection, the thought of Martha’s Love, a nonprofit organization, came into his mind.
The name “Martha’s Love” was chosen as a tribute to his late grandmother Martha Z Garkpi, a native of Liberia, West Africa. She tragically passed away from liver 2017, on June 17 when Joel had just turned 13 years old. This personal loss fueled his determination to honor his grandmother’s memory.
Therefore, right after the end of his 3rd semester of college, at the age of 19, on December 16, 2023, the Martha’s Love nonprofit organization was established and registered. On the same day of the registration and establishment of the organization, Joel embarked on a journey to Liberia, West Africa to visit the village where his grandmother was born. During this visit, he became more motivated to work harder and diligently to make sure that his dream and passion become reality. Especially after seeing the kids in the village, though they don’t seem to have anything much or anything at all; they appear very happy and full of life as though they had everything.
Grade School Journeys
His academic path began at a small community church preschool located in Anaheim called Calvary Baptist Preschool. At this preschool, the foundation of love, care, and compassion was laid in him through the instrumentation of a godly and loving preschool director, Ms. Debbie Byers. Later, he attended Rio Vista Elementary School in Anaheim and moved on to Morse Elementary, and Kraemer Middle Schools in Placentia.
It should be noted that from elementary through middle school, Joel played a little league football and became very good at playing. He even won several awards during his last few seasons. Due to his love for football, he didn’t want to go to just any high school, but one of the top three in the Southern California region. And through device providence, a couple of months before he completed middle school, his family moved within the school district where his dream high school, Centennial High School, was situated.
At Centennial, he played his position at an exceptional level and had impressive years of high school footballing experience. Due to his hard work, dedication, and passion for the game, he was blessed to be awarded a Football Scholarship at a Catholic University, Benedictine College, Atchison, Kansas.
Joel's narrative is one of inspiration, hard work, passion, and determination intertwined with a deep-seated compassion for the less fortunate and a profound commitment to community service. Through "Martha's Love", he is determined to continue his grandmother's legacy; making a tangible difference in the lives of those that somewhat appear to have been forgotten.
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