Thomas and Mimi Freeman Funds
Support the Thomas and Mimi Freeman Family Endowed Scholarship and the Thomas and Mimi Freeman Family Fund of the Wick Poetry Center
Thomas Michael Freeman was awarded the prestigious Wick Undergraduate Poetry Scholarship in 2013. Tom was always truly grateful for living and found tremendous happiness in immersing himself in the world and giving of himself to others.
Tom’s brief but epic journey took him from Cuyahoga Falls, across vast swaths of the United States, to Mexico and throughout South America, mostly on foot. During his travels, he was constantly astounded by the natural beauty and magnificence of the world around him but he was even more astonished at the beauty of the people he met.
On June 29, 2017, Tom messaged his parents that he was going to head home after more than two years away, “I decided I’m keeping on north now, I’m in a little coast town in the Caribbean called Capurgana about to enter Panama. You would love it, unbelievable beaches.” The next morning Tom landed in Puerto Obaldia, Panama on the edge of the Darien jungle and disappeared.
His grandfather Thomas Freeman Sr. has named these funds in his honor.
The Thomas and Mimi Freeman Family Endowed Scholarship
Thomas Michael Freeman was a graduate of Kent State University and was a recipient of the prestigious Wick Poetry scholarship. His grandfather, Tom Freeman Sr., and family have established and endowed scholarship in Tom’s honor to support Kent State University undergraduate students each fall. The Thomas and Mimi Freeman Family Endowed Scholarship would like to support students who share Tom’s love of nature, dedication to others, belief in the goodness of people and sense of gratitude for all life has to offer. This will be an annual one time award granted to one or more students.
The Thomas and Mimi Freeman Family Fund of the Wick Poetry Center
This fund will support the Wick Poetry Center’s Outreach Programs and Traveling Stanzas project, which will allow students that embody Tom’s philosophy on life opportunities to share their voices and talents with a larger community. These would include community workshops, installations and exhibits and the publication of the Traveling Stanzas book series with the Kent State University Press.