Heroes Spotlight: Jim Zacharias
Do our ancestors help us in mysterious ways to fulfill our purpose in life? Decades ago, Jim Zacharias, 55, from Chicago, had never heard of Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, let alone the fact that his own grandfather lived there in the early 1900s.
In the late 1980s, Zacharias received a letter from Mercy Home urging him to help our young
people. The appeal moved him to support our mission and he signed up to become a Guardian Angel, which is what we call donors who commit to giving monthly to support our work. But it wasn’t until decorating for Christmas several years later that he learned of a previously unknown family connection to Mercy Home.
people. The appeal moved him to support our mission and he signed up to become a Guardian Angel, which is what we call donors who commit to giving monthly to support our work. But it wasn’t until decorating for Christmas several years later that he learned of a previously unknown family connection to Mercy Home.
As part of his membership in our Guardian Angels, he had received a Mercy Home Christmas
ornament as a thank you. He hung it on his tree.
ornament as a thank you. He hung it on his tree.
“My mom was over visiting, saw the ornament, and then asked me where it was from,” Jim
said. “I told her Mercy Home and that's when she let me know that her dad, my grandfather,
was at Mercy Home as a child.”
said. “I told her Mercy Home and that's when she let me know that her dad, my grandfather,
was at Mercy Home as a child.”
Jim only knew two things about his grandfather. He knew his name was Stephen Dayner and that he was born in 1903.
Jim eagerly searched for answers about his grandpa but always came up empty. Still, the desire to know more about his grandfather remained with him.
Years later, in 2022, he felt an urge, almost a calling, to run the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. One of the world’s major marathons, it’s the kind of grand challenge that entices thousands to toe the starting line each October. And in 2022, it called out to Zacharias. The only hurdle, he thought, was getting an entry.
But he knew about the marathon’s charity program which allows participants to secure a spot by running on behalf of an official nonprofit and raising donations. Since 2002, according to the marathon’s web site, the program has raised more than $292 million for causes, including a record-breaking $27.6 million in 2022.
“So, I said, I'll look for a charity to run for. And when I googled Chicago Marathon charities, Mercy Home was the first one that came up,” Zacharias said. “Well, that's obviously fate!” he thought. “There's no doubt which one I'm going to pick.”
Fate indeed! Jim joined the Mercy Home Heroes in 2022, building on his years-long commitment as a Guardian Angel donor by literally going many extra miles for our boys and girls.
Zacharias was excited to run with Mercy Home. He began reaching out to people on social media for donations and his local Boy Scout troop, where his son was a scout.
“I did get a lot of people to give me money,” he said. “Those kids are the kids from my troop, and the pack are a lot of the reasons why I do these marathons now.”
Zacharias explained when his son got to high school, he expressed great interest in the Boy Scouts and exploring the outdoors. Even though scouting was new to him, Zacharias came to appreciate the program.
“You learn a lot about dealing with conflict and a whole lot of other leadership skills,” he said. And he cited the inspiration he gets from his involvement with his son’s scouting program.
“And watching some of these kids who, when they started, were lost, and had no confidence and then seeing them progress to where you see a change in the look in their eyes, I think a lot of that gives me strength during the [marathon] training and even during the marathon itself.”
He added, “When you get to those last six miles and everything in your body wants to shut down and everything in your brain wants to stop, I can go back to those things, and it gets me through.”
His approach has enabled him to conquer several marathons, including the Fox Valley Marathon, which he has run four times, including once just a few weeks before the 2022 Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Many marathon runners face a roadblock where they might feel like giving up. But when the race gets difficult Jim reflects on his Boy Scout leadership vigil.
The Boy Scouts have something called The Order of the Arrow. It’s an honor society that adults can also be elected to, and Jim was elected as an arrowman. Arrowmen progress through different levels, with a few reaching the top level, Vigil Honor. To earn Vigil Honor, Arrowmen must stay all night in the woods and keep a fire burning. Jim would read and write down his thoughts during these long vigils by the campfire. “I still go back to my vigil whenever I'm doing a marathon or anything else that's very difficult to get through mentally,” he said. “I go back to my vigil and how I sat there that night and watched my fire and forgot everything around me and just let the time pass.”
Last year, thoughts of his family and his scout troop kept the fire alive for Jim Zacharias to reach the finish line in the 2022 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, as did his desire to come through for the young people living at Mercy Home. And maybe we can chalk it up to coincidence that he became so involved in helping an organization that had given his own grandfather a place to call home 100 years ago.
Then again, guardian angels can work in mysterious ways.