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Post by kramcat on Sept 10, 2015 21:08:38 GMT -6
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Post by Clemensbuff on Sept 11, 2015 7:29:22 GMT -6
That is fantastic. Great job by these young men
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Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2015 9:54:53 GMT -6
Absolutely proves that THSFB is a brotherhood. My hat Is off to thee Refugio Players for this selfless act and helping A fellow football player. My Prayers so out to the young man fighting this battle. May he find strength and courage while beating this disease. Never Give In, Never Give Up!
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Post by kramcat on Sept 15, 2015 21:28:52 GMT -6
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Post by kramcat on Sept 15, 2015 21:31:59 GMT -6
Donations for Gunner Miller and his family's fight against cancer may be sent to Gmillz Nation, P.O. Box 632, Rockdale, Texas, 76567.
REFUGIO - Refugio had just finished a practice in preparation to play Mathis, but football wasn't on coach Jason Herring's mind.
He couldn't stop thinking about an email he received from Angel Miller.
Herring didn't know Miller or her husband, Jeff, the head football coach at Rockdale.
But when Herring found out the Millers' son, Gunner, a sophomore who was expected to be the team's starting quarterback, had been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma - a cancer that forms in bone or soft tissue - last spring, he was determined to act.
"What I couldn't get off my mind is who's helping that family," Herring said. "I know what teachers make. If it was my kid, we would be devastated financially. I wrestled with it for 2-3 days and prayed about it. I just felt like I needed to do something for the family."
Angel Miller had asked Herring if Refugio would participate in "Go Gold For A Cure" for childhood cancer month.
Fans around the state are being asked to buy and wear gold T-shirts to games on Sept. 25. - when the Bobcats, ranked No. 3 in Class 2A, play at Cameron Yoe, which is ranked No. 4 in Class 3A.
Proceeds from the shirts will go toward curing childhood cancer.
Herring had no problem with the request, but wanted to do something more personal.
He called Angel Miller and asked if the Bobcats could raise money for the family.
After getting her OK and the approval of Refugio Superintendent Jack Gaskins, he showed his team a PowerPoint presentation about the Millers and asked if they would be willing to bypass a day of practice during their bye week to raise funds for the Miller family.
"It's really not about the money," Herring said. "It's about trying to help. I'm realistic enough to know that there's no way we can put a dent in what the medical bills are. I wanted to do it because my heart said do something for this coach who lives the same life I do and for this coach and his family."
Refugio players on the varsity and junior varsity level agreed unanimously to spend last Tuesday collecting donations and left school with one-gallon jugs in their hands.
"I've never done anything like this before," said senior Christian Mascorro. "It was an experience. It brought out the community and their kindness in raising money for this family."
Mascorro plunked down $20 of his own money and expected the team to raise somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,000.
He was stunned to learn the team had brought in almost $5,000 the first day, and the amount had grown to $9,000 by Monday evening.
"It kind of brought a different perspective to light," Mascorro said. "We're normal teenage kids, we're playing football and we're going to school. There's a handful of kids who don't experience this. They don't get to do what normal kids do and we actually saw that. It felt really good to help someone who needed help."
Herring was on the way to the Goliad-Shiner game last Friday when he received a text from Jeff Miller, who was formerly the quarterbacks coach at Bay City under Warren Trahan.
"As I'm sitting here preparing my pre-game speech, I cannot quit thinking about what you and your group of young men did this past Tuesday," the text read. "It is mind blowing. I can never thank you enough. Not only for what you did for our family, but also for teaching a group of kiddos how to be so caring and generous."
Herring is hoping to present a check to Angel and Gunner Miller when the team arrives in Cameron for its game against Yoe.
Regardless of the final amount raised, he knows the Bobcats have become much richer in the process.
"I thought it would be a good opportunity to make a lasting impression on our kids," Herring said. "Something they would feel good about. Our kids don't always have it easy, but you can always look down the road and see who has it worse off than we do.
"I want them to know it's OK to help people and be compassionate. I knew that if I took two hours of football practice to do anything, they would know it was significant because football, it's so dang important here. I'm real, real proud of our kids."
Mike Forman is a sports writer for the Victoria Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6588 or mforman@vicad.com.
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