COLUMBUS, Ohio - Dr. Amy Acton has become one of the faces of Ohio’s efforts to stop the coronavirus from spreading in the state.
- She has a fan club on Facebook
- Homage released apparel in her honor
- Proceeds from sales of the retro t-shirt go to Huckleberry House
There’s even a fan club for her on Facebook. “Snackin’ with Acton” is what many fans say is the best part of their day.
Her ability to break down the science so everyone can understand it has endeared her to many — including a Columbus apparel company.
Homage has released a t-shirt and sweatshirt in her honor. It says “Not All Heroes Wear Capes”.
The proceeds from the retro tee will go to central Ohio charity Huckleberry House, whose programs help youth at risk from violence, neglect, poverty and homelessness.
It’s not the first time Dr. Acton has been involved with helping the Huckleberry House.
Sonya Thesing is the executive director there.
“I can tell you how we know Amy… she was at The Columbus Foundation for a little while maybe about a year – year and a half,” said Thesing.
And during that time The Columbus Foundation gave Huckleberry House about half a million dollars in various grants to help with housing at-risk youth.
“What we ended up using that money for was to keep the program alive,” Thesing said.
Just last week, Homage let Huck House know about the t-shirts – just as the non-profit moved their program into its new home.
“It kind of gave all of us chills that there was this whole full circle exchange with Dr. Acton and all of her amazing work that this program she helped us save was finally moving in and we got to kind of celebrate something together in the middle of this crisis,” said Thesing.
Thesing says Dr. Acton was so involved because she knows first-hand what many of these at-risk kids are living through.
“Amy was kind of private about her story about experiencing homelessness for quite some time, I think those of us who worked with her when she was at the foundation kind of got little bits and pieces of it and then were able to put together her story – you know she got more open with people as she got to know us and was really involved with the work it was very clear that she had great empathy for the youth we served."
Thesing says Dr. Acton is providing hope and strength during this time of crisis.
“I think Amy has said it there’s a lot of hope and we’re going to come out of this even brighter and better. I think like this shirt and the excitement of honoring Dr. Acton is just something to feel good about in a time where it would just be really easy to be down.”
If you would like to order Homage’s “Not All Heroes Wear Capes” shirt or sweatshirt, head to their website.