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NFL Prospects Prepare for the Draft By Making Kids Smile

First step: Senior Bowl. Second step: AFH Empowerment Workshop. Third step: Hospital Heroes visits the week of the Draft. Fourth step: Making kids smile.

While the players we met at the 2022 Senior Bowl are getting ready for the next stage of their careers, some of them took time out of their busy schedules to bring smiles to the faces of kids who need it most.

These visits featured:
🏈 Perrion Winfrey of Oklahoma
🏈 Cameron Thomas of SDSU
🏈 Leon O’Neal of Texas A&M
🏈 Braxton Jones of Southern Utah
🏈 Matt Waletzko of North Dakota
🏈 Sterling Weatherford of Miami University
🏈 Jordan Silver of Arkansas
🏈 Dameon Pierce of Florida
🏈 Tycen Anderson of Toledo
🏈 Chris Paul of Tulsa

“The visit was so much fun! Hands down the highlight of my week!”

Chris Paul, Tulsa Football

It’s always an honor to work with athletes at any point in their athletic journey, but it’s extra special to witness the next generation – days before one of the biggest moments in their lives – make an impact in such a meaningful way.

Unsurprisingly, the feedback we received from our hospital partners was nothing short of amazing.

“I just wanted to send you a quick thank you for helping recruit our amazing guests today. Matt, Jordan, and Sterling were so fun and really great sports. We were all truly impressed with their acting, drawing, and sculpting skills! Please let them know how appreciative we are that they took the time to play a game with us and answer some questions [about playing football].”

Leslie Scott, Child Life Specialist at Children’s Wisconsin

Another thank you to the Senior Bowl for making AFH a part of their offerings to players in February. We like to think it goes a long way!

MSU Spartans Celebrated March’s National Reading Month

by Meredith Norris

Looking back at a recent service opportunity, AFH University member, Michigan State created a virtual March is Reading Month library that reached more kids than they could imagine.

In previous years, Spartan student-athletes would go into local elementary schools and read children’s books to numerous classrooms. Conscientious of the current climate, MSU decided to create a virtual library in the hopes to reach more children. Michigan State student-athletes recorded themselves reading children’s books and uploaded their video to a virtual library that was sent to various elementary classrooms.

This virtual library was shared with over 400 teachers, Speech Language Pathologists, librarians, literacy coaches, etc., reaching 47 schools in 19 school districts around the state of Michigan. The addition of this virtual library, allowed videos of MSU student-athletes encouraging and promoting the importance of reading to affect over 8,000 young children!

We are so proud of the continual drive to conduct service opportunities, despite the circumstances. Great job Spartans!

“I participated in March is Reading Month because I remember how much I loved being read to as a kid, and I remember how it made me feel loved and cared about. It felt good to be able to let other kids experience that too, and I’m sure it was extra special for them get read to by Michigan State Athletes.”
Parker Jamieson, Men’s Golf

“I participated in the March as a reading month because giving back to kids is one of my favorite things to do. I remember when I was in middle school I idolized MSU athletes, and to give back just a little bit of my time to make some kids days was totally worth it for me.”
Rebecka Poljan, Women’s Volleyball & AFH U March Student-Athlete of the Month

Athletes in Action

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