When OVS ceramics teacher Jody Cooper challenged students and teachers to “donate a dollar” to a financially struggling youth football team, the Upper Campus answered the call.
In just two days, students and faculty fundraised a total of $512 to help the Hub City football team, of Compton, CA., attend the National Youth Championship in Florida next month. The football team is made up of 20 five- and six-year- old players, who for the second year in a row were crowned the King Conference Super Bowl champs, and earned an invitation to the youth championship game.
The young athletes, who come from a very low economic area, started a GoFundMe campaign to raise a minimum of $15,000 to pay for boarding, travel, transportation, activities, and food for the trip.
“It touched my heart,” said Mrs. Cooper, who found out about the campaign on Facebook and at morning meeting on Monday challenged the student body to contribute.
“Just look at this picture,” she added, showing a photo of the team. “Don’t you want to donate, look how cute they are, I can’t stand it.”
Since the GoFundMe campaign was announced four days ago, more than 400 people and organizations have pitched in to help turn this youth football dream into a reality. In addition to the Ojai Valley School donation, contributions have rolled in from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and San Francisco 49er cornerback Richard Sherman, a Compton native who provided $5,000 to the campaign.
“Thank you to everyone else that donated,” Mr. Sherman tweeted after making his contribution. “Those kids will have a blast.”
By mid-morning on Friday, the GoFundMe campaign had raised more than $30,000. OVS’s $512 donation included $100 from Upper Campus Head of School Craig Floyd and $100 from Mrs. Cooper herself, which means students and other faculty combined to raise $312 for the campaign.
Mrs. Cooper was delighted when she tearfully announced the results during Wednesday’s milk and crackers meeting.
“When they sent me an email thanking us for the donation,” Mrs. Cooper said, “I wrote a note to the boys that they should have fun, make wonderful memories, and do their best, just like OVS!”
Supporters of the Hub City football team responded, sending an email to Mrs. Cooper that she tried to read at morning meeting, but couldn’t because it brought her to tears.
The email, written by GoFundMe organizer Lonnae Taylor, spoke to just how much the OVS contribution, and all the others, meant to football players and coaches.
“As always anything great takes teamwork and it’s a beautiful thing to see our youth come together to support others,” Ms. Taylor wrote. “It gives me a sense of hope for our future! We appreciate you guys and let your students know that we are grateful for their extreme efforts! They are the type of young adults that we need in this world and I commend the faculty and their parents for raising such honorable and inspiring young people!”
