By Yijing Shen, Contributing Writer
West Liberty University’s men’s basketball team fundraised for Hurricane Harvey victims on Aug. 31 at the first home football game at West Family Stadium.
WLU basketball players teamed up off the court and spent the evening helping the Red Cross to raise funds.
“I believe it’s very necessary to complete this event. People’s lives are at risk, and we need to help them. Talking to some of the donators brought me closer to the West Liberty Community, also I was able to make friends through my time fundraising,” said freshman basketball player Marlon Moore, Jr.
Hurricane Harvey slammed into east Texas, including the towns of Rockport and Port Aransas, on Aug. 22. It reached Category 4 with wind speeds of 130 mph on Friday, Aug. 25. The Hurricane roared onto the area and collapsed buildings, destroyed cars and boats and left at least 45 dead.
The heavy rain and flooding from Harvey caused more than 30,000 people to seek shelter.
“After we heard the sad news from Houston, we’ve been thinking of a way to help the victims. We figured there must be many people at the first football game on campus who would be willing to help the cause,” said assistant men’s basketball coach Brett Ervin.
He also mentioned the former head men’s basketball coach, who is originally from Houston. “Jim Crutchfield called out the basketball team to donate some shirts and sneakers to the universities in Houston,” Ervin said. That inspired new head men’s basketball coach Ben Howlett to fundraise.
“We have raised a little under 900 dollars during the football game. We have sent all the money to Red Cross along with some supplies and shirts,” said Ervin. “I hope it can be a little bit helpful to Houston.”
If you missed the WLU fundraising event, you still can help people in Houston and other hard-hit areas. The Red Cross is accepting donations via text. Just send a text with the word “Harvey” to 90999 to donate $10.
