“I don’t look for the thank yous,” says James Westmoreland. “I don’t expect thanks from people. But throughout the years, I’ve had a lot of people say thanks for serving your country.” Westmoreland retired from the Air Force a few years ago, after serving for 20 years. During his time with the Air Force, Westmoreland said volunteering was simply a part of what he did. “We did a lot in the Air Force,” he says. “I was involved with providing aid during Hurricane Hugo [in 1989]. Our base helped to clean up debris.”
 
Westmoreland says the biggest impact for him was witnessing how people’s lives were transformed from receiving service from Air Force personnel. Today, Westmoreland is the owner and founder of The Detail Shop in Warner Robins. The shop provides premium cleaning services for vehicles and motorcycles with a variety of options to choose from. Westmoreland and his team go beyond just cleaning vehicles by offering customers the satisfaction of very thorough jobs.
 
Working on cars has been a life-long passion for Westmoreland. “I did this on the side as a hobby, while also working throughout the years,” he says. “And I did it throughout my career.” After deciding to pursue his passion full-time, Westmoreland closed the landscaping business he had started briefly and opened the doors to The Detail Shop. Since that time, the shop has experienced success and Westmoreland is still enjoying his work. “There seemed to be a need for a good detail shop in Warner Robins,” says Westmoreland. “I wanted to open a legitimate, good detail shop by providing 100% satisfaction on all jobs.”
 
Despite challenging economic times, Westmoreland has launched a spectacular initiative called Random Acts of Kindness. “The acts of kindness is held the second Tuesday of the month,” says Westmoreland. “People who don’t have money can get their car detailed. They just have to make an appointment and get their car detailed for free.” Westmoreland had several reasons to provide free detail service once a month. “It was due to the economy, that I had a growing desire to offer random acts of kindness,” he says, adding that he hopes those who receive the service will pass on an act of kindness.
 
The Detail Shop also participates in other community-related projects around town. The shop holds an annual food drive, which is delivered at the local food bank. Other local food drives and Toys for Tots are all community projects Westmoreland has been involved in. Since offering his acts of kindness, Westmoreland says he has received a lot of positive feedback in the community. “It’s certainly caught on, and retired military folks are very positive about it, as well.”
 
The lesson Westmoreland wants to impart to the community is to always consider giving back. “If you’re blessed with a certain talent or have something to give back, then give back,” he says. “I’ve been very fortunate. I have a wonderful wife and wonderful children, and it’s important for me to give back. If the community did not support The Detail Shop, then I wouldn’t be here. So, I take it as a duty to serve my community.”
 
James and his wife were married in June 2002, and they have two children, 4-year-old, Walker Douglas and 20-month-old Brielle Marie.

Chuck Duggan is the owner of Fountain Car Wash in Macon and has been serving the community for many years.  “My volunteer work has a lot to do with church life,” explains Duggan.  “God wants our time, not just our tithes.”  For Duggan, volunteering is about serving God.  For to serve God, he says, is to serve and live for others.
 
“When Katrina hit in 2005, I called up a disaster organization and was sent to Hattiesburg,” says Duggan.  “I wanted to clean it up, and we just went down with chainsaws and worked.”  It was simple for Duggan: a crisis had swept the nation and families and communities were in need and displaced.  Volunteering, says Duggan, “comes from recognizing God has given me a gift.” 
 
Duggan is a father with two children who both attended First Presbyterian Day School (FPD) in Macon.  Duggan also attended the school and graduated with the second graduating class during the 1960s.  Duggan has been on the board of directors at FPD on and off since 1991.  He coached the girl’s tennis team during the 2007-2008 school year and says he thoroughly enjoys working with children.  He also got involved with college ministry and is leading a Bible Study this semester. “I will be leading young adult guys in the Pilgrim’s Progress Study Guide,” says Duggan.  “This program is particularly helpful for young men who are new believers.  It helps them to see their purpose in life.”  The course is 25 weeks, spread out over a year.
 
A dedication to community service has extended to mission trips for Duggan.  “I’ve been to Cuba and was able to work in that culture,” says Duggan, adding that his first love is cross- cultural ministry.  “I would go on mission trips every month if I could.”  Working outside his comfort zone taught Duggan a lot about life.  “It was all about trusting God,” he says.  In the early to mid-1980s, Duggan also served as county commissioner in Twiggs County, where he was living at the time.  That experience also taught him a lot of valuable lessons.  “The most important lesson I learned was that there are people who truly serve in public office that are true public servants,” says Duggan. As for community service and advice he would impart to community members?  Duggan says people in the community need to express an interest in what is taking place at the county and city levels.  “Community members should get to know their state representatives and become active within the community itself,” says Duggan.
 
In 1994 when the great floods came to Macon, Duggan says about the community, “Everybody came together and helped each other out.”  “People were providing meals for each other, Red Cross had so many people calling to give donations… a lot of good things happened.  This is a time when people should support the local churches, organizations, and businesses.”
 
Duggan’s community-minded approach encouraged him to take mission trips with his son, Michael, who is 22 years old and his daughter, Taylor, who is 18 years old.  “I sincerely hope that my children have been influenced in giving back to the community,” says Duggan.  “I’d like to think it has made them less selfish and made them appreciate living in the best country in the world.”  When Duggan took a trip to Rio Bravo, Mexico, he took his son Michael along with him.  “We went on youth retreats and I would be a chaperone,” says Duggan.  “I really loved being around the kids.”  Michael had just started learning how to speak Spanish and he was able to communicate with the children in the Mexican town.  “Taylor was also taken with what she saw and experienced,” says Duggan.  “The poverty was so incredible and yet they were amazed at how these kids could be so happy with so little.”  Currently, Michael is about to complete college and work as an agricultural research chemist and Taylor will be attending UGA this fall.
 
“I think people have so much to offer,” says Duggan.  “Whether it’s reading to children, being on a board, organizing an event… they can find their service gets multiplied.  When you donate your time, you have more time for things that are important.”

Laura Byrd is our August Pathfinder of the month.  She has been teaching for over 20 years in Houston County and continues to enjoy working with adolescents.  “I come from a family of teachers,” says Laura. “And probably the most influential person in my decision [to become a teacher] was my mother, who was an elementary school principal.” Laura decided to combine two strong passions: science and working with young people.  
 
Years before she decided to teach, Laura graduated from Northside High School and completed degrees at the University of Georgia and Columbus State University.  She originally wanted to enter pre-med, but says teaching seemed to be what she was born to do. Laura is one of the original faculty members at Houston County High School in Warner Robins. “I was there when there was dirt parking lots at Houston County High,” she says. “And that was in 1992, so I’ve been teaching 21 years.”
 
The experience for Laura has been phenomenal. “…the experience gave me the opportunity to work with the regional, state, and the international science fair, because I was the gifted teacher for science, so it was great on a professional level,” she says. “Plus I get to teach the advanced placement chemistry and the honors chemistry, which means, I get to teach some phenomenal kids that are very, very talented.”  Laura also has two daughters, Kelsey, now 20, and Lauren, who is 23, who attended Houston County High School. Laura says it was a wonderful experience to teach at a school her daughters attended.  As a mother, she was able to witness first-hand what their high school experience was like.
 
Daughter Lauren was able to delve deeply into the science program and is preparing to graduate from the University of Georgia with a degree in molecular biology and biochemistry. She also currently works with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “I think a lot of that has to do with the exposure she had in the upper level classes at Houston County High School,” says Laura.  Daughter Kelsey is pursuing a degree in Agricultural communications at the University of Georgia.
 
Laura says the field of science has now become a vital part of life and changed the way she teaches within the classroom.  “If you don’t have some workable knowledge of science, you can’t make informed decisions anymore,” remarks Laura, who adds that over the years she has witnessed how using technology is crucial in teaching students. “Technology has changed the way information is presented to students,” she says.
Besides teaching, Laura volunteers at the Perry Animal Shelter. She fosters one to two litters of puppies at her home and works with the animals until they are ready to be adopted. On weekends, she will bring puppies that are ready to be adopted to Pet Smart. “I help to find them a home and it’s very, very rewarding,” says Laura. The Perry Animal Shelter is run by the City of Perry, who relies on volunteers to help foster the animals.
 
Community service and teaching her students about giving back is important to Laura. She is currently the sponsor of the National Honor Society, which includes students with the highest grade point averages at Houston County High School. Besides a high GPA, students are required to show “leadership abilities and community service activities,” explains Laura. “Our National Honor Society, usually, is involved with at least 8 community service projects throughout the year.” The group has adopted families at Christmas; raised money for a broken air conditioning unit; bought gasoline cards for families that drive to Atlanta for leukemia treatments and other medical ailments, along with other notable community projects.  
 
“In doing that club, we teach how important community service is,” says Laura. “These kids are learning how good it feels to help out in their community.”

James Massey teaches history and advanced U.S. History to 11th-graders at Mount de Sales Academy in Macon.  He also teaches elective courses on the Civil War and World War II to juniors and seniors and works as an adjunct professor at Macon State College. He teaches U.S. History at the college. Teaching has been part of Massey’s life for the past 22 years and he continues to enjoy it.
 
“I really got into teaching primarily to coach football,” says Massey. “But I found my niche in life as a teacher. I still coach but I definitely enjoy the teaching more than I do the coaching.” Massey had two dreams: to write sports stories for a newspaper and to coach.  He was able to do both.  He worked for the sports section at the Union Recorder newspaper in Milledgeville for five years and says the experience was rewarding.  “I loved it!” Massey remarks. “I loved the deadline pressure, I was two years as a sports writer and three years as the sports editor and I really, really enjoyed it….all of the pressure and all of the [duties] of covering different sports and being able to cover Georgia and Georgia Tech and the Falcons and the Braves, it was just a lot of fun.”
 
Massey met assistant coach, Bruce Wayne from Milledgeville, who had accepted the head football coach position at Monroe Academy in Forsyth and invited Massey to come along.  “I jumped at the opportunity and I’ve been teaching ever since,” says Massey. Teaching has had a profound impact on his life. “It enables me to stay in touch with what’s going on in…”says Massey. “As a teacher, you really need to pay attention to what’s going on, politics, economics, and sociology - that really challenges you to stay abreast of what’s going on in the world.”
 
Besides wanting to write about sports, the dream of coaching also became a reality in Massey’s life. “I’ve been really fortunate… this is my fourth different school,” says Massey. “I’ve been coaching football for 20 years and my passion is basketball. I was a head basketball coach for 10 years at three different schools and picked up whatever spring sport they wanted me to pick up at the time.” Massey says he enjoys the level of competition in sports and making sure his team performs optimally every night. “I enjoyed the competition as a kid and it’s just something you never outgrow,” he says.
 
Currently, Massey is the assistant football coach and the assistant baseball coach at Mount de Sales Academy. His three daughters still attend school.  21 year old Katherine is majoring in marketing at Macon State College; Ashley, 15, is a sophomore at Mount de Sales; and 13 year old Jamie is an eighth-grader at Mount de Sales.   Massey says he took a break from coaching years ago, so he could spend more time with his family.  Balancing family life with teaching and coaching can be challenging, but Massey believes that Mount de Sales has taught his daughters and himself the importance of giving back to the community.
 
“De Sales is a school that really emphasizes community service and service education, “says Massey. “…just the example of being someone that’s there to help someone, I’d like to think I taught that lesson of giving back.”  At Mount de Sales, students are required to do 20 hours of community service. “They go the extra mile to make community service part of the curriculum,” says Massey. “We challenge our kids to be a part of figuring out problems; to think if they work at something, they can make it better.”  Students enjoy speakers from around the world, including hearing from a child who experienced a tsunami.  
 
This is Massey’s 10th year at Mount de Sales and recently, he was nominated as the STAR teacher of the year by his student, Maxine Anderson. She attributes her success to Massey. “I feel very special in that regard, to be singled out,” he says. “It means the world to me.”
 
 

Congratulations to this month’s pathfinder, Ken Hathaway, for his dedication in serving the community. Ken is currently president for the Warner Robins Little League (WRALL) and says the program serves the community in many ways. “For me, it’s a wonderful program for the kids - it’s just an awesome environment to bring kids into,” says Ken. The WRALL program assists youth in developing the qualities of citizenship, discipline, teamwork and physical well-being. By espousing the virtues of character, courage and loyalty, the Little League Baseball and Softball programs are designed to develop superior citizens rather than superior athletes.
 
Every year, a general election is held where parents and Little League members vote on a board comprised of 15 people. Those members then vote in a board of directors and the elected board votes individuals into various positions. Ken was voted in as the 2009 president, but has managed and coached for a number of years.
 
Ken, who is originally from North Carolina, moved to Warner Robins 23 years ago with Robins Air Force Base. After 10 years with the military, Ken joined the Georgia Air National Guard, where he is currently employed. “The military and the guard, they really instill that, you know, [it’s important] what we do for the country, but it’s important what you do at home and what you are giving back the community,” says Ken. “People always wonder, what’s this country going to be like in the next ten years and I tell people all the time, ‘You need to look at the children that are growing up.’ It gives me a lot of confidence to see the number of truly great kids that come through our program.” Ken remarks that witnessing the number of parents who are having a positive impact on their children by encouraging them in enriching activities, is empowering on many levels.
 
Ken’s background of work experience has taught him that serving the community is about improving it. “You know you’re mentoring these kids to become the next leaders here in the city, in the state, or wherever,” says Ken. So when his first son, Cal, began to play ball, Ken decided to become involved. “Since 1990, I’ve been with Little League when our oldest son began to play ball,” says Ken, “… at that time, they were still playing in at the old field.” Today, Little League continues to significantly impact the Warner Robins community. Recently, Warner Robins was selected to become the headquarters for the Southeast division of Little League. Ken is excited about the opportunity this will offer. “The groundbreaking has already taken place and, hopefully, by the time they have the first tournament, that tournament will be played here in 2010,” says Ken. The new facility will be located near Cohen Walker and off Snellgrove Drive.
 
Volunteering with Little League has allowed Ken the opportunity to teach important life lessons. “You know, everybody likes to win, but, you have to learn how to deal with losing, too,” says Ken. “We teach the kids, ‘you may have lost the game, but you know what? We’re going to go back and work a little harder and practice and we’ll get better and we’ll try to win this. We teach kids – don’t give up, because you can win the game. You just keep trying.” Ken adds that, as a parent, dealing with losing is an important lesson to teach kids. As a child, Ken played baseball and learned the important lesson of not giving up when a team loses.
 
Ken says volunteering has also made him appreciate of the time he has spent with his children. “My oldest son will graduate this year and he’ll be going off to college, and I am so thankful for the memories that we’ve had of being able to spend that time together. Because this year, I am the president, but in all the years prior, I was able to coach my children,” says Ken. Besides functioning as president this year, Ken’s youngest son, Blake is in his last year with Little League. With three sons, Ken says he is looking forward to being able to talk about the time the family spent together on the field.
 
“When the parents do volunteer work, they need to make sure they include their children and explain to the children what they’re doing” says Ken, “because as your children grow, they need to have an understanding and they need to have a sense of responsibility as they get older, where they need to ask themselves, ‘What can I do to help my community, to help my town, to help my state?’ And you’re teaching them that every time you do something, you don’t have to get paid for it, you volunteer because you see a need.”
 
For more information on the Warner Robins Little League, visit www.wrall.org.

Mark Atkinson is June's pathfinder. He has been involved with the Macon community for a long time and considers serving others as an integral part of life. “I believe there is no community without people being community-minded,” Mark explains. “Once everyone gets all selfish and doesn’t help each other out, then everybody gets hindered and hurt. So, I have a philosophy that you reap what you sow; no man is an island; and we all need to make a difference for each other, even if it doesn’t pay off for us.” Mark has been living by this creed for many years.
 
 
 
Over the past 12 years, he has served as the pastor of Macon Wesleyan Church in Macon. Originally from Jonesboro, Indiana, Mark was ordained by the Wesleyan Church denomination and was asked to pastor the church more than a decade ago. “One of the things I felt I needed to do when I first came here was to get involved in the community,” explains Mark. “I had children, so I got involved over at Weaver and Westside – Westside was just beginning their first year.” Mark helped with a variety of programs at the school, including the Booster Club, a program that promotes encouraging kids. Mark helped with activities, such as frying hamburgers, laying sod, donating time, money, and effort, and painting buildings. He also helped out in the office and with the football and basketball programs. With basketball, Mark kept stats and says it was an enjoyable activity on a personal level.
 
When the family moved to Macon, Mark’s two youngest children, twins Tiffany and Chi, attended Springdale; his middle child, Joshua attended Weaver; and the oldest, Anthony, entered Westside. “As a father, [volunteering] kept me involved in the schools; it kept me involved with all the teachers,” says Mark. “And while Westside was a pretty large school, for my children, it felt pretty small because their parents knew everything that was going on.”
 
Today, Mark and his wife of 30 years, Rhonda, have passed their dedication of community service on to their children. Anthony is in training to be a nurse anesthetist in South Dakota, where he lives with his wife; Joshua is currently an airport firefighter in the Marine Corps stationed in Japan; twins Tiffany and Chi live in Macon and Chi is currently employed by the Bibb County Fire Department. “I do believe the structure, initiative, and caring for people as a pastor definitely trickled down to my children. All four have big hearts,” says Mark.
 
Throughout the years, Mark has not tired of giving back to the community. He continues to volunteer and thoroughly enjoys what he does, particularly working at Hephzibah Ministries located on Zebulon Road. “I volunteer out there, mostly with the horses,” says Mark. “I enjoy working with the children and I especially enjoy working with the horses – taking horses that are a little bit [jumpy] and spending time with them and helping them to be gentle enough for the children to be able to ride them and enjoy them.” Mark grew up on a farm in Jonesboro and says working with the animals and children comes naturally to him.
 
Mark used to work as a Hospice Chaplain, but currently volunteers as a Chaplain at the Coliseum Hospital and the Medical Centers of Central Georgia. He encourages community members to find a need that is closest to their heart and try to meet that need. “In their schools, get involved with your children; get involved in a number of extra-curricular activities,” says Mark. “Making a difference… in the Bible there’s a story about the Good Samaritan that actually stopped to help a passer-by that was all beat up. I believe that we can’t fix everything, but we need to know what the Lord places right in front of us and take care of that. Even though it appears not to have that immediate reward… it does pay off one way or another, either inside you or through someone else.”
 
Mark and his wife, Rhonda, will be relocating to Indiana at the end of the month. Join us in wishing this dedicated minister a Blessed Journey and Happy Anniversary for 30 years of marriage!
 

Caitlin Ross Thompkins is May's pathfinder for her involvement in several community-related projects. Caitlin is an active, energetic 18 year-old, who has experienced success throughout her academic career. Caitlin says she kept up her 4.0 grade point average, because she was taught to set aside time every day in order to study. “My mom is a high school principal, in fact, she always made me study when I was younger,” says Caitlin. “And then when I got to high school, I had to work a lot harder than I had before to keep my 4.0.” Using her time wisely and planning ahead has allowed Caitlin to master the incredible skill of multi-tasking.
 
Caitlin’s current course load includes two advanced placement classes (Chemistry and Calculus) plus English102 through dual enrollment at Georgia Military College. She was also a participant in the Capstone Summer Honors Program at the University of Alabama last summer, where she earned seven college credits with her high GPA.
 
During her freshman year, Caitlin decided to take a drama elective. She quickly found out she had stage fright, so her drama teacher decided to encourage her to work on the technical side of drama. She worked on set designs and read scripts. “By my sophomore year, I became stage manager and by my junior year, I was head assistant director,” says Caitlin. Now, as a senior, Caitlin performs on stage and says she’s not too scared to act anymore. “It takes about 15 hours a week of rehearsal time, if not, more,” explains Caitlin, on her weekly time commitment.
 
Working in drama has taught Caitlin many skills, including how to work with people, how to plan, and how to market to the community. “You have to help your crew… I call newspapers and T.V. people and talk to them about putting us up on the air,” says Caitlin. One of the most rewarding aspects of drama, Caitlin says, includes performing plays and donating some of the proceeds to a charity. This year, their show entitled The Yellow Boat (which is about a boy who contracted aids in the 1980’s because of his hemophilia), raised money for a foundation.
 
Her involvement with the community and spreading a positive message towards teens is inspirational. Arrive Alive is a club that spreads an uplifting message for teenagers and young children. The club promotes safe driving and not drinking or doing drugs. “I’ll get to go and talk to other kids sometimes about [drugs and drinking],” says Caitlin.
 
Caitlin enjoys working with children. This fall, she will be attending the University of Georgia, where she plans to get an undergraduate degree so she could enter law school. “I’ve always wanted to work with children and I’d like to work with foster care and be a child’s advocate attorney,” says Caitlin.
 
Her dedication to working with children is something Caitlin would like to see continue even after she graduates from high school. She currently works as a volunteer at Kings Chapel, where she teaches children Bible verses and facilitates various activities. “Me and some of the other high school girls are in charge of the games,” explains Caitlin. She also volunteers for Big Brothers, Big Sisters at Morningside, and says she enjoys being a big sister. “It’s fun to see [my little sister] … I don’t know her elementary school all that well,” explains Caitlin. “We come from different backgrounds, but it’s fun to see all the seniors who are hanging out with the sixth graders – to see how we interact with them and see how they’re able to talk with us.”
 
Caitlin says she has learned how to interact with people on many different levels when she had the opportunity to attend the University of Alabama’s capstone program last summer. “Doing a lot of volunteer and community work helped me to deal with the situation where I had to live with 40 other high schoolers, whom I had never met,” says Caitlin. She adds that she truly enjoys helping to raise money for various organizations and feels prepared for her future life in college. 

Adelyn Bargeron is a young 18-year old high school senior that strongly believes in helping those who are in great need by serving the community in several ways. Around Town Magazine chose Adelyn, after learning about her dedicated community involvement, particularly with the role she assumed in raising awareness about mitochondrial disease. It all began a long time ago…
 
“I met my friend, Austin [Childers], in fifth grade,” says Adelyn. “He came to FPD (First Presbyterian Day School)…after he moved over from Sonny Carter. We would actually get in trouble for talking in class every day in fifth grade, and we just became really good friends. When we were in sixth grade, Austin had missed a lot of school and we knew that there was something wrong with him - he had some kind of sickness - but we weren’t sure exactly what was going on. He went and saw some doctors and they found out he had mitochondrial disease.”
 
The disease somewhat progressed over the years and during their senior year, Adelyn felt the need to inform the public about this disease, to encourage Austin. She says she felt it would be a great idea to get “something going” where other schools could get involved. “So, that’s how I came up with the project of selling green ribbons, because mitochondrial’s color is green, “explains Adelyn. “We sold them at the basketball games to raise awareness around the community for mitochondrial disease.” During these games, parents, visitors, and students would purchase the green ribbons, and with their combined efforts, raised $2,100.
 
 
Adelyn decided to call the Medical Center of Central Georgia to tell them about the funds and The Medical Center said they would match the donation. “Austin decided that, the final amount raised would go to the Children’s Hospital, because they had been so kind to him since he’d been there,” explained Adelyn. “You know, going to the hospital is never a pleasant experience, but they’ve made it a lot easier at the Children’s Hospital.” The outpouring of support from the community with the mitochondrial project overwhelmed Adelyn. “It was above and beyond what I thought was possible,” she says. “Parents would come in and buy ribbons and give $50 donations.”
 
Adelyn will be attending the University of Georgia in the fall, where she would like to major in marketing management. She will be volunteering with Medcen Foundation and helping with publicity and marketing, particularly with the Children’s Hospital. “My calling is to give back to the community and work with less fortunate people,” says Adelyn, adding that she continues to be inspired by Austin, who, “is one of the most encouraging people you’ll ever meet. He has such a strong will to live and people like that are the best spokesperson for a disease because their dedication is contagious,” she says. And Adelyn expressed how she is simply blessed to have made people aware of the disease.
 
Her mother, Ravonda Bargeron told Around Town Magazine, “Adelyn admits that when she is overloaded with activities, schoolwork and too little sleep, she is reminded of the kind of day Austin has probably experienced. She says: “It is sobering to think of the pain and challenges he endures each day. I can’t dare think about how badly I feel, when I know Austin probably wishes he could trade places.”
 
The experience of volunteering has changed Adelyn’s outlook on life. “No challenge has ever been met without leadership, and every community needs leaders who are visionary and have a true sense of direction, when dealing with ways to impact society,” says Adelyn. “Where ever you are, it’s necessary to look for ways and opportunities, because opportunities will always be there, but awareness is necessary. We all need to look for ways to help, because when we get out there and make people aware of causes, they will respond.”
 
Adelyn wanted to share with Around Town Magazine readers a powerful quote she lives by: “Love cannot remain by itself – it has no action. Love has to be put into action and that action is service,” spoken by Mother Theresa.
 
 
Mitochondrial diseases might affect the cells of the brain, nerves (including the nerves to the stomach and intestines), muscles, kidneys, heart, liver, eyes, ears, or pancreas. In some patients, only one organ is affected, while in other patients all the organs are involved. Depending on how severe the mitochondrial disorder is, the illness can range in severity from mild to fatal. – Excerpt from Cleveland Clinic