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FOR MANY PEOPLE, LUCINDA THOMAS IS THE HELPER THEY DESPERATELY NEED—AND SHE EMBRACES THAT ROLE. BY EMILY SPARACINO | PHOTOS BY KEITH MCCOY
The darkest parts of the coronavirus pandemic have shown some of the brightest parts of humanity. Acts of kindness have run the gamut in form, from adult volunteers cooking and delivering meals to the elderly and immunocompromised, to teenagers delivering cleaning supplies to families unable to go to the store. Such selfless gestures are also ones you would expect from someone like Lucinda Thomas—but not just during a pandemic. For Lucinda, giving is as second nature to her as breathing, and she has a knack for finding new avenues for it. “It’s not about me,” she says, an unmistakable note of compassion in her
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soft voice. “A kind word, a smile, a hello will help people.” And she stands by her words as truth, knowing she can back them up with evidence from her life—conversations she has had with strangers and friends, moments she has made an effort to truly change someone’s day through her actions. There’s a good chance Lucinda doesn’t even know the full extent of her generosity; after all, she doesn’t dwell on how it affects her. That’s not her mission. Lucinda’s compassion starts with her family. She takes care of her brother, Anthony, who became paralyzed about four years ago after an abscess on his spinal cord went undetected. Three days a week,
Lucinda makes sure he is ready to be transported to his dialysis treatments. She remains unofficially on-call in case he needs anything on other days. “I have a very good support system,” she says of her sisters and other family members who pitch in with Anthony’s care. “It was a life change for all of us. There’s nothing you can do; you can’t be mad.” Friend Gwendolyn Brown says she met Lucinda when Gwendolyn worked for a disability rights group. “She amazed me when she came in looking for more resources for not just her brother, but for many others,” Gwendolyn says. “I was able to realize that she actually knew a bit more
