It wouldn’t be a stretch of epic proportions to boldly proclaim that there are a lot of really kinda crappy things going on in the game of college football these days.
In that same vein, it wouldn’t be a stretch to state that what Georgia head coach Mark Richt and some of his Bulldog football players did recently for kids dealing with something they shouldn’t have to is 180 degrees from said crap.
Richt and some of his players on Wednesday visited Camp Sunshine, an organization dedicated to helping children who are battling cancer. Dawgs247.com‘s Gentry Estes, as usual, does a pitch-perfect job of relaying and conveying what the presence of UGA football meant to those kids, so I’d highly recommend clicking HERE for the full story — especially for the photo gallery and especially for the pic of Richt hugging a young camper that puts a boulder-sized lump in my throat every time I look at it.
Again, click HERE for the full story, but I’d be remiss if a quote from Mo Thrash, a veteran supporter of the camp for nearly three decades, wasn’t highlighted:
“We’re 29 years and the Dawgs have always come to Camp Sunshine. Coach Dooley brought them at first. Coach Goff brought them. It’s been great,” Thrash said. “Listen, it means the world. I’m not kidding. We have children that come here to summer camp just because they hear the Georgia Bulldogs are coming. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that it’s their whole dream in life to meet a Georgia Bulldog. To get to meet them personally, have a picture taken with them, get their autograph and then play a football game with them, it means so much to all of them. You can tell by the players too. It’s a very, very special day.”
I don’t have a Dawg in this hunt, but bravo to Coach Richt and his players for bringing a little bit of sunshine into the lives of kids who otherwise are fighting their way through their darkest of days.
Sometimes the good that athletes and coaches do goes un or under reported. The bad always seems to make the news. This family member along with former fellow players for UGA support Camp Sunshine and we greatly support Coach Richt continuing this support. It truly is a great blessing to us to assist them in any way possible. Go Dawgs! Go Camp Sunshine!
I’ve never worked the camp myself, but have a few friends that have done it. From their mouths, Camp Sunshine is one of the greatest experiences of their lives, we should all be so lucky to participate in camps like these.
I’m a Volunteer fan and I love beating the Bulldogs in any sport, but I have to give coach Richt mad props for being one of the best overall guys associated with college football. He runs a clean program and continually does some of the most heartfelt work in his community that I have ever seen from a football coach. Total class.
minibull: fan of a different team but same feelings as you so artfully expressed. A class coach with a class program. We always want to beat them as we did, ostensibly for the national a few years back. Tigers (LSU) Geaux! Richt and Dawgs go!
Good people doing good things. Even a Pac12 guy like myself cannot help but route for the Dawgs.
Camp Sunshine is a wonderful organization.
Several of the Sunshine Kids who were at the last camp were recently transferred to St. Jude’s in Memphis. Their prognosis is not good.
Please remember Coach Jimbo Fisher’s young son also.
If you can ever volunteer for Camp Sunshine or similar organizations which help children, please do so.
We know we get far more from our involvement than we ever could bring to it.
God bless them all!