By Mike Schnitzel
By taking care of your community, you¹re taking care of your family, his parents told him. McGrath, who has taken that advice to heart ever since, is the Herald¹s proud choice for 2006 Person of the Year.
A Valley Stream native, the 37-year-old, who runs a law practice out of his home, makes it a point to reach out to the community as much as he can. One resident who has seen McGrath's devotion to the village almost from the beginning is Catherine Sharkey. She underwent cardiac surgery about a year ago, and was laid up for months as she struggled to recover from the procedure. McGrath, a Eucharistic minister, came to the Sharkey home every Sunday to bring Catherine communion when she was unable to attend mass at Holy Name of Mary Church.
"He would come over and keep me up to date with all the activity in the community," Sharkey said. "My husband and my children were very supportive throughout the ordeal, but it was just nice to see another face."
In addition to ministering to homebound patients, McGrath also spends Sundays traveling to Franklin Hospital and Mercy Medical Center to give communion to ill patients. "Bringing the sacrament to the person provides them with a real connection and relationship to their parish when they are ill," said the Rev. Tom Harold, pastor of Holy Name of Mary. "It also provides the person with a relationship and a real connection with their Eucharistic minister."
That personal connection is what McGrath most enjoys about his work as a minister. "You become part of an individual's life when you administer communion to them," he said. "You go through the process of illness and recovery with them ‹ it's a moving experience. To know that you¹re helping to comfort them in their time of need is what it's all about."
In addition to his ministry at Holy Name of Mary, McGrath teaches religious instruction to students between ages 10 and 14. According to Harold, McGrath makes a real connection with students, and tries to get them to interact with the community as much as possible so that they get an early sense of the neighborhood as a family. "He invites parishioners to come into his classroom to interact with the students," Harold said, explaining that McGrath's creativity helped him share his feelings of dedication to the community with his students.
Others who have seen McGrath interact with children agree. "He's very good with all children," Sharkey said. "The children at his parish and his rosary group. Children love him, adults love him."
For the past three years, McGrath has coached a baseball team in the Blessed Sacrament Athletic Association of the Valley Stream Mail League. Coaching the children allows McGrath to be a mentor to his players, a role that he feels is critical in the lives of young people. "In all the work that I do with children, I'm most satisfied when I see kids enthusiastic about what they're doing and when I see their parents enthusiastic about being involved," he said.
Mail League President John Tufrarelli said that McGrath has been an excellent addition to the league. "He's been a coach as long as I've been here, and his kids love him," Tufrarelli said. "He came to me one day and said that he wanted to coach in the league. He was a little green at first, but he's learned with his kids and grown into his role as coach. He's a great guy and he loves what he does."
McGrath is also a member of the Valley Stream Elks Club. In 2005 he was elected Elk of the Year by officers and members of New York Elks Lodge No. 1 and presented with a proclamation in recognition of his service to the community by Gov. George Pataki. "Individuals of character and integrity such as Tim deserve proper recognition, and I am very pleased to see a young person giving so much of himself to others," Pataki said.
Among the activities McGrath helped organize that gained him that recognition were a Hoop Shoot basketball contest for boys and girls between 8 and 13 and a luncheon for participants and their families. He also coordinated the lodge's monthly visits to St. Alban's Veterans Hospital in Queens, where he and other Elks served breakfast to veterans, socialized with them and gave them newspapers, magazines and board games. McGrath also sponsored a record number of new members for the lodge.
Another organization he is involved in that has attracted new members is the St. Therese Council of the Knights of Columbus in Valley Stream. On Nov. 30, in what he describes as the proudest moment of his life, McGrath was installed as grand knight of the council, succeeding Kunju Paul, who had been grand knight for the previous two years. "Looking out into the audience and seeing so many people that I had known since I was a child and who I¹ve come to know since then ‹ it was one of the greatest experiences in my life," McGrath said.
He said he wants to focus on continuing the council¹s tradition of involvement with the community. Organizing spaghetti dinners and basketball free-throw contests, sponsoring essay contests at Holy Name of Mary School ‹ keeping a presence in the community to show that you care ‹ is what the council is about, McGrath said.
While going about his volunteer work, McGrath keeps one maxim in mind. "Your most valuable commodity is family," he said. "Your second most valuable commodity is time."
Being a good neighbor is what it's all about, and many think McGrath has been just that. "I'm fortunate to have Tim as a neighbor," Sharkey said, "and I am especially proud to call him my friend."
Comments about this story? MSchnitzel@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 265.
