Mike Downes
I’m a 2009 graduate of Kean University with a B.S. in Management Science, brother, son, an avid sports fan, as well as a current participant in athletics. With all of this being said however none of these things describe or define me. Friends and family come first in my life. I would do anything for my friends and they would do anything for me. This was not always my way. These relationships, how you treat others, and being a man of your word is what defines you. It wasn’t until I met my best friend that my life would forever change and I would learn all the lessons and values of true friendship. The man I’m speaking of is the late Michael James Fry. His loyalty, actions, kindness, and good nature to everyone around him were impossible not to rub off on you, like it or not. I never saw myself being involved in a charitable organization, but this charity feels like the only way to keep the legacy of a man who would literally give you the shirt of his back and march into any battle life threw your way with you alive. Time2Shine keeps all of his closest friends together as a family, and allows us to assist in bettering lives of youths, and all members of the community in any way possible. Thus as in death just as in life he forever changed our lives, and continues to make us better men.
-Mike Downes