Every year on Feb. 12, the Baldwin community celebrates Be A Hero Day in honor of Logan Fochtman, the late son of culinary arts teacher Beth Fochtman and math teacher Rich Fochtman.
Beth Fochtman was nearing the end of her pregnancy in February 2012 when tragedy struck.
“I was having a normal pregnancy. Then at eight and half months, I had a liver tumor that I did not know about and it ruptured, and my son was killed. I almost died, but somehow I survived,” she said.
The rarity of her condition made finding a path to healing difficult.
“What happened to me was so rare that there was not anything I could fundraise for and donate to except for the blood drive, because blood donors also helped save my life,” she said.
That’s a large part of the reason she continues to help organize Baldwin’s blood drives.
The couple had people by their side, helping them through their tragedy. So while rebuilding her life, Fochtman sought an additional way to help others.
“After my first daughter was born, I felt extremely grateful for everything. I wanted to give back,” Beth Fochtman said.
In 2016, the Fochtmans started Be A Hero Day, an annual event that encourages people to do random acts of kindness in honor of Logan. Participants are encouraged to post about their kind act on social media, using the hashtag #BeAHero212 to spread positivity on what had been such a negative day for the couple.
“I just wanted to carry on the legacy of my son by doing something positive for people in the community,” Richard Fochtman said.
His wife agreed.
“We had so much support for months and years, and even now people still honoring him when they do a good deed on his birthday means the world to Mr. Fochtman and me,” Beth Fochtman said.
Art teacher Toni Rogiero regularly participates in Be A Hero Day.
“Sometimes I have brought breakfast in for my first-period students,” she said. “I have made meals for loved ones who were struggling through the week or just very busy, and I have paid for the orders of people behind me in Dunkin’,” Rogiero said.
If people are unable to do an act of kindness on Wednesday, the Fochtmans encourage everyone to try to do so sometime this week.
