GoFundMe channels attention given threats against CovCath student into $18K for charity – By Max Londberg (Cincinnati Enquirer) / Feb 2 2019
Michael Hodge and Cincinnati restaurateur Jeff Ruby with the Jan. 19 edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Ruby tweeted the photo to show Hodge was in Cincinnati with him and not in Washington D.C. after some misidentified Hodge as Nick Sandmann. (Photo: Jeff Ruby/Provided)
A GoFundMe account redirected the attention given the harassment of a family with ties to Covington Catholic toward charitable giving.
The account creator, John Andrew Hodge, writes that he is Michael Hodge’s brother. Michael Hodge and his family were harassed after the Covington Catholic student was misidentified as Nick Sandmann.
The account has raised more than $18,000 for the Mary Rose Mission, a Catholic organization that serves low-income families and individuals in Northern Kentucky.
The nonprofit provides meals to food-insecure individuals.
“Michael has volunteered cooking and serving there,” wrote John Andrew Hodge, “and I think it’s an excellent way to recognize him and have some good come out of such a bad experience.”
Nick is the CovCath junior whose image went viral after he and his classmates encountered Native Americans at the Lincoln Memorial last month. Nick and others wore “Make America Great Again” hats.
Some felt the students – who performed the tomahawk chop and chanted and gesticulated while standing around the Native Americans – were mocking the participants of the inaugural Indigenous Peoples March.
Michael Hodge, 19, was misidentified as Nick. Hodge and his family were celebrating a wedding when the threatening messages poured in.
In an update posted this past week to the GoFundMe account, John Andrew Hodge wrote the family would present the money to Mary Rose. The nonprofit could not be reached Saturday.
