TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Everyone has a memory they cherish. On Monday, memories were made at Academy Sports + Outdoors in Tallahassee as 25 kids from the Boys and Girls Club of the Big Bend had the chance for a $100 shopping spree, and helping them? Members of the Florida A&M football team.
“This is an awesome moment for all of our football players and I’m just happy to be here," said Boys and Girls Club of the Big Bend interim president Kacy Dennis. "This is just an amazing opportunity that Academy Sports has provided for the Boys and Girls Club of the Big Bend."
“What better time to show our local Gadsden County community how much our youth mean to us? To have our football players here today, it’s a great feeling," added Florida A&M head football coach Willie Simmons. "It goes a long way to showing that these men are great on and off the football field.”
It’s opportunities like these that makes redshirt senior Markquese Bell reflect on the impact he’s making.
“I think about it everyday," he said. "It feels like just yesterday I was literally their age and now I’m out here mentoring kids, or just being able to show them that there’s another side to life.”
The Boys and Girls Club and Florida A&M have worked hand in hand for a number of years and following Academy Sports’ $2,500 gift card to the club, the possibilities for growth have become endless.
“You know I was born and raised here in Tallahassee and to see our home team the FAMU Rattlers coming back and providing for the Boys and Girls Club of the Big Bend that means the world,” Dennis added.
“Very appreciative to Academy Sports, the Southwestern Athletic Conference, to Florida A&M and everyone who feels it’s important to give back to under-served communities such as Gadsden County," said Simmons.
