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Meet Your Neighbor: Terry Fator
By Callie Thomas
Apparently, amazing things can happen when you hear voices. Or rather, listen to the voice within yourself. Very often that voice in the back of your head leads you through life’s challenges and spurs you on to realize your greatest dreams. 89135 resident Terry Fator knows a thing or two about listening to his inner voice—or in his case, voices. Millions witnessed a dream come true when he won the hit entertainment reality show, America’s Got Talent by sharing his special brand of humor and bringing his puppet co-stars to life with hilarious celebrity impressions and extraordinary ventriloquism feats. Terry tickles everyone’s funny bone nightly as the headliner at the Mirage. It would appear that Terry has listened to his inner choir for some time. It’s guided him in developing his passion for performing and for utilizing his talents to help those in need throughout our community.
“I started doing ventriloquism when I was ten years old,” says Fator. “I spent much of my younger days performing for senior citizen homes and charities. It gave me the opportunity to work on my craft in front of a live audience and help others at a very young age.” As Terry’s success as a performer grew, so did the number of charitable organizations that he’s become associated with over the years. Whether it is giving his time and talents through fundraising performances or organizing and influencing a group of his entertainer peers to take the stage as a means of giving back, Terry is always happy to offer a hand. A few of the organizations that can count Terry Fator as one of their most cherished friends are the Ronald McDonald House, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Child Haven, Make A Wish Foundation, the American Cancer Society, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Keep Memory Alive and the National Arthritis Foundation. “My sister has rheumatoid arthritis so that’s why I chose to work with them and the others are programs that I’ve gotten involved with through friends and family,” Fator said.
But perhaps what has resonated most significantly within Terry are opportunities to assist the military, particularly organizations that recognize and give comfort to former and present service men, women and their families. “I have a profound respect for organizations that assist those in the military and who have given their lives for our country,” he said. “As a kid I remember listening to stories from friend’s relatives who were in the Air Force and about their experiences during the Vietnam War and in POW Camps. I have always involved myself as much as I can in helping out organizations like Wounded Warrior, or Twilight Brigade.”
The sole purpose of Twilight Brigade is to provide bedside volunteers who give comfort, reassurance and compassionate support for those veteran service men and women in their final days and hours of life. The group assures that all our veterans are allowed to pass in peace and dignity. “I was able to do a show recently for a lot of kids who had a parent killed in the current fights in Afghanistan and Iraq and the experience was truly humbling. Seeing a lot of children laughing and enjoying themselves made me feel like a million bucks. I truly saw how powerful laughter can be to a hurting heart.”
Terry Fator has been fortunate to realize his dreams and continually envisions new ones to achieve. Giving back to the community is part of those aspirations and allows Terry to feel like he is a part of something bigger than himself. All in all, Fator is living a life much like his favorite quote by Willy Wonka: “Remember what happened to the boy who suddenly got everything he wanted? He lived happily ever after.”
