Advocates for Youth is greatly saddened to share news of the passing of Tim Allen, the Youth Activist Coordinator of the SWARM (Students with a Responsible Message) Youth Council, a project of Tell Them and Advocates for Youth.  His colleague Emma wrote this appreciation.

Tell Them has suffered a tragedy this week. Tim Allen, our Youth Activist Coordinator, passed away late Sunday night. This is a tremendous loss for our staff, and for all those who knew Tim.

Tim volunteered for Tell Them at the University of South Carolina for two years before we hired him in the summer of 2011 to coordinate the SWARM Youth Council. I remember the first time we met him – Tim walked right up to the Tell Them table, said “I want to make a difference,” grabbed a Tell Them t-shirt and petition and started collecting names.

Tim was a master organizer. He could go to any event and come home with 300 signatures – in about 2 hours! His passion for reproductive health, particularly AIDS prevention, was contagious. He cared so deeply for this movement that he would jump at any opportunity to donate his time and energies to whatever was needed. He was our “go-to” guy.