Gators Kick Off Holiday Season with New Kicks for Kids
Friday, December 16, 2011 | General
Over the past two weeks, Gator student-athletes have been making local children's Christmas wishes come true. Funded by donations from members of the University Athletic Association and UF student-athletes, the Gators participated in the 11th annual Gator Tracks charity event. This year, enough money was raised to provide 368 individuals at seven different elementary schools a brand new pair of sneakers.
Each day, a group of student-athletes went out into the local community to personally deliver the shoes at one of the seven participating schools: Lake Forest, Rawlings, Terwilliger, Shell (in Hawthorne), Metcalfe, Idylwild and Waldo. The selected children were called in from their various classrooms to receive a surprise gift from the Gators, whom many kids saw to be Santa's Little Helpers.
On Thursday's trip to Idylwild Elementary, the children were brought in in small groups by class, and the surprise presents were distributed. After every child in the group had a box, they awaited a countdown from Gator linebacker Neiron Ball, and on his mark, the kids furiously tore open the wrapping and found a brand new pair of shoes inside. Each child's eyes lit up as he or she went to try on the new pair of kicks, every kid thinking their new shoes were the coolest in the bunch.
“I love to see the kids,” Ball said. “Their reactions just do something to me. You get a great feeling inside, knowing that they're happy.”
The same was true at each of the seven sites visited. The Gator student-athletes set aside time from their busy training schedules, giving up valuable study time during finals, to give back to the community. Early in the week, a group of eight women's swimmers, along with tennis player Caroline Hitiman, visited Rawlings Elementary to distribute shoes. The following day, lacrosse goalkeeper Cara Canington took a load with her to Terwilliger Elementary.
“I was awesome seeing the kids get so excited about their new shoes,” said Canington. “We would help them try the shoes on and their faces would light up with excitement.”
On a whole, 21 student-athletes from seven different sports teams visited schools in the event.
Prior to delivery, the Gators hosted a large wrapping event, where around 45 student-athletes came together to help wrap all 368 pairs of shoes. The event was a huge success, as every pair was carefully wrapped and properly labeled to make sure each child got the right pair. For any child whose shoes did not fit, a special trip was made to the store to find a new pair.
To see photos from the event, click here.
