Dec. 14 -- EDITOR'S NOTE -- The following is part of an ongoing series about volunteers in the Greater Grand Forks community.
GRAND FORKS -- Lynn Haman was inspired to volunteer by, of all things, the 2005 sitcom "My Name is Earl."
In the show's first episode, the titular Earl Hickey -- a bully and a small-time criminal -- wins the lottery, but immediately loses the winning ticket when he is hit by a car and it's blown out of his hand. After the ordeal, he takes it as a sign to right all his past wrongs, and reverse his karma -- the Sanskrit concept of the cause and effect of a person's actions and consequences.
Or, as Haman puts it: "If you're doing good and helping other people, good things happen to you."
"Karma has been very warm to me," he added.
Since Haman saw the sitcom five years ago and was moved to do more good, Kelly Quigley, philanthropy services manager at Altru, says he has become one of the hospital's most outstanding volunteers.
In November, the Herald asked readers to nominate residents who exemplify the spirit of volunteerism in the Greater Grand Forks community. Haman was among the nominees, put forward for his attention and care for every person he meets -- whether it's buying a patient the perfect gift from the hospital gift shop because he knows her so well, or sitting with someone after his volunteer shift is over just because he can see they're distraught and need someone to talk to.
"Really, he has this spirit of gratitude and generosity that's infectious," Quigley said. "He shares his positivity with everyone, and he's always had sort of this simple goal of just making other people smile."
Haman has volunteered in departments across the hospital, including pediatric therapy, dialysis, spiritual care and guest services. He most recently can be found regularly at Sunshine Hospitality Home, Altru's overnight facilities for the families of patients who have traveled to Grand Forks to receive health care. He says he most loves entertaining children, and making connections with the people he meets.
Hospitals are nothing new to Haman. When he was in the fifth grade, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor on his brain stem. Doctors didn't expect him to live.
He proved them wrong, but was left with a number of physical disabilities -- his hearing and speech were impacted, and he was mostly paralyzed on his left side.
As a result, he knows a thing or two about what patients are going through. He says he especially has deep empathy for those who are treated as if they don't understand what's happening around them just because they struggle to communicate.
"I kind of lived it, so it makes it a lot easier for me to talk to people, to understand what's going on with people, how they feel," Haman said. "... A lot of people have a big college degree, and I don't -- the degree I have is I just understand."
Quigley said his ease connecting with people and making them smile, aided by the perspective he's gained from his own health journey, is profound.
"You know, I'm always humbled by having conversations with him -- the challenges that he's experienced I think maybe would stop me from focusing on giving back to other people, and thinking about how I could serve others," she said. "It seems to just energize Lynn to push forward and find a way to share what he can with the people around him."
For Haman, though, for as much as he's given to his volunteer work, there's just as much that he's gained -- he gets stories to tell, he gets out of the house, he meets new people and he learns something new every day.