Jun 12, 2008 / 01:10 am
A Catholic author and evangelist, who is suffering from cancer, is a semifinalist for Energizer’s Keep Going Hall of Fame because of his charitable work supporting orphans overseas.
Thomas Rutkoski, a resident of Evans City, Pennsylvania, was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, an incurable blood and bone cancer in 2005. In 2006, he founded Abode for Children, a non-profit organization that provides food, clothing, shelter and values-based education to children suffering from poverty and disease. The organization runs two large orphanages in Nigeria and India, respectively.
After becoming convinced of the need for someone to help the poor children he met in the two countries, Rutkoski made the decision to underwrite Abode for Children largely with sales from his four books: “Apostles of the Last Days,” “Miracles and How to Work Them,” “Great Divide” and “My Scriptural Rosary.”
Rutkoski was a fallen-away Catholic for 27 years. He was a photojournalist for a Pittsburgh television station when his work took him to Jerusalem where he believes God began his journey to conversion. After later visiting Lourdes and Fatima, he gave up his television career to travel the world and tell people how God changed his life.