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Once a Mountaineer ...
March 14, 2015 10:04 AM | General
The "Once a Mountaineer, Always a Mountaineer" Campaign returned to the WVU Rec Center where former WVU greats Major Harris, Bruce Irvin, Rasheed Marshall, Keith Tandy, Najee Goode and Will Clarke were among those who made time to spend a morning with local children.
“You want to be able to please these kids,” said Marshall, now living and working in Pittsburgh. “The thing on their mind is, ‘I want to get to my favorite player. I want to get to the quarterback. I want to get to the wide receiver.’ And this is their opportunity to interact with the players and interact with their favorite guys.”
“It’s always exciting to run around with them and put a smile on their face,” added Tandy.
The objective of this program is to promote physical activity and well-being among area youths. This is the second year of the program, created by West Virginia University journalism professor Elizabeth Oppe.
“The idea came to me when I was grading public relations papers and Geno Smith was in training camp for the Jets and I looked at that and I thought, why don’t we invite those guys back here for the kids?” she said.
After their morning at the Rec Center, the former WVU greats spent the afternoon at the WVU Children’s Hospital.
“It makes me blessed I truly am because I was fortunate enough not to deal with any health issues from birth until now,” said Clarke. “Those families and those kids are very strong and when we were in there we were just making sure we said prayers for them and encouraged their parents to stay strong because those kids need them to stay strong.”
Produced by Matt Hauswirth for IMG Partner West Virginia Illustrated
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