Photo by Jonathan Rich.
You may not know it, but there are superheroes among us and they are doing good in many forms across Western North Carolina.
Without revealing his secret identity, a dapper individual calling himself The Crimson Tie recently spoke to a kindergarten class at Mountain Community School about the importance of doing good for others.
“I basically told them what a hero is and that they can be one too if they do things like help others,” the masked man says after the brief discussion with the toddlers who were also dressed in costume. The Crimson Tie even gave them an example of upstanding character by adding donations to the students’ food drive for MANNA Food Bank.
“The purpose of any real-life superhero is to help people to the best of your abilities and doing what you feel you can do best,” he explains, adding he was first bit by the superhero bug as a teenager when he saved another boy from drowning. That sense of duty was compounded during a trip to Florida when he made a human connection with a homeless person and saw the everyday adversity many others face living on the streets. “I tell people that my greatest power is compassion. That’s what the Crimson Tie truly stands for.”
The Crimson Tie, along with other super heroes, heroines and member of the growing online science fiction/video game/comic book community known as Multiverse Asheville will unite their efforts December 9 to benefit Child’s Play, a national charity organization which provides hospitals across the country with games and toys.
“Multiverse is a lot of different cool people and a great gathering of raw talent who enjoy many of the same things,” The Crimson Tie says “I’m glad that they too want to put their support behind helping others. That’s an important thing for everyone to do, even if it’s through their secret identities.”