Very few children have ever had the chance to make as big a difference in charitable giving as 12-year-old Tommy Rhomberg has. In August, a huge derecho storm hit his area of Iowa and delivered winds of up to 140 miles per hour. The storm left tons of damage in its wake, and Tommy knew that he wanted to find a way to raise not just the spirits of his neighbors in Mount Vernon, Iowa but also raise some cash to help out as well. Tommy’s family were fortunate, the boy says, because they didn’t have a lot of damage to their home and property.
However, when he got out and started seeing some of the damage done to other people’s homes and property, he wanted to try to raise some money to help them rebuild. Specifically, he started out wanting to help one person: his friend Walker Viessman, whose birthday just happened to be the same day as the storm. Because there was a lot of downed wood, Tommy got the idea to make him a baseball bat. He knew that Walker’s favorite sport was baseball and he also knew that Walker would appreciate a new baseball bat. What kid wouldn’t? Tommy’s mom, Amanda, says that this is how Tommy is.
In an interview with CNN, Amanda said that Tommy has always been creative and he loves building things. On the day he was planning to make the bat, he got up at 6:00 a.m. and worked steadily on it for a few days until it was done. Amanda said that when she saw the bat, her “jaw just dropped.” Tommy had used his grandfather’s tools to make the bat and he got plenty of blisters. However, when it was done, he named his bat “The Great Derecho.”
This is Tommy.
He lives in Mount Vernon, Iowa. When #Derecho knocked down a tree in their backyard, he chose the best branch and hand carved a baseball bat.
“The Great Derecho” pic.twitter.com/JY9KOyobd8
— Katy Brown (@ItsMeKatyB) August 19, 2020
When Amanda posted photos of the bat to her Facebook page, more requests started coming in and the idea of making bats for charity took off. No one was more surprised than Tommy, who just wanted to make a bat for his friend. Amanda said she didn’t know his “little hands” could do that much and she’s so proud of him.
— Off The Main Page (@offthemainpage) December 1, 2020
The 30-inch bats are meant to be decorative mementos and aren’t for competitive play, Amanda pointed out.
— Off The Main Page (@offthemainpage) December 1, 2020
Tommy has made 200 bats, and that’s added up to about $4,000 for charity. Also, there’s a waiting list of over 600 people. Here’s a news video about Tommy’s story.