Former Gator James Smith Set to Climb For Cancer
Friday, October 23, 2009 | Football
Former University of Florida Gator Football player James Smith, a 2009 Gator grad, will continue his commitment to the Gainesville community by climbing Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina, starting Jan. 9, 2010, to show his support for the Climb for Cancer Foundation affiliated with Shands Hospital in Gainesville.
Smith, a 2008 football team captain and semifinalist for the 2008 Draddy Trophy, first got involved with the Climb for Cancer Foundation as an undergraduate at UF while participating in the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and Goodwill Gators. Smith regularly visited the kids in Shands Pediatric Oncology unit and also participated in the Climb for Cancer field day, a chance for children who have been stricken with cancer to have fun with Gator athletes.
Since finishing his playing career at the UF, Smith chose to increase his commitment to the children at Shands Hospital by challenging himself to climb Mt. Aconcagua to raise money for those very same kids at Shands in Gainesville, Florida.
Smith made the decision to climb Mt. Aconcagua to use his athletic abilities to aid in the fight against cancer, seeing the name Climb for Cancer as a metaphor for rising above the challenges of disease and overcoming the obstacles that keep people from being healthy and productive.
Smith's Climb for Cancer journey in Argentina will start Jan. 9, 2010, and will continue through Feb. 2.
-UF-
