“Misidentified Covington Catholic student helps raise $21K for refuge: ‘I’m going to be optimistic’”

Thanks to Maria for sending me this LoHud article. The best way to respond to haters – be generous.

"It was crazy to see all the people, you know, so quick to judge," Hodge, 18, told The Cincinnati Enquirer. Hodge was 500 miles away when his classmates joined the March for Life event in Washington and afterward encountered Native Americans and a reported hate group. Hodge had remained in the Cincinnati area for his older brother's wedding. But he was mistakenly identified as another Covington Catholic student, Nick Sandmann. … Hundreds sent "hurtful things and threats" to Hodge, he said, and dozens more made harassing calls to his mother, some lobbing gender-based invective.

What the strangers didn't know: Hodge's passion for the culinary arts had led him last summer to prepare and serve meals to food-insecure individuals at Mary Rose Mission, a Catholic nonprofit in Florence, Kentucky. 

And about six years earlier, Hodge's father, John Hodge, had offered engineering and architectural advice and a free inspection through his company, Century Construction Inc., to Mary Rose during the renovation of a 100-year old structure.

The nonprofit at first relied solely on volunteers for the project.

"They (John Hodge's company) always answered," said Cindy Carris, the executive director of Mary Rose. "A lot of people at that time knew it was me and they would go dark."

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"We were in such a bad spot, so negative for so long," said John Hodge. "My wife said, 'What can we do to change this? Make some good out of this?' "

They mulled creating a fundraiser for Mary Rose, to channel the attention away from hate. They feared it would create more unwanted attention, but ultimately decided to go through with it.

With donations made by check and through GoFundMe, the family raised more than $20,000. The Hodges made a $250 anonymous donation themselves and later donated $600 more to offset a GoFundMe service fee.

On Friday, the family presented a $21,170 check to Carris and Mary Rose.

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Michael Hodge said Cincinnati State officials assured him that the misidentification won't affect his application. He's awaiting a response and applying for scholarships.

He said the atmosphere at Covington Catholic has mostly returned to normal.

"I'm going to be optimistic," he said. "Just with anything, good can come out of it."