SFA Teams With United Way For Annual Event
4/18/2013 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 18, 2013
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Nacogdoches County United Way and SFA Athletics have teamed up to host the fourth annual Live United With The `Jacks event Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. at Jaycees Field. The event is a free, family-friendly community tailgate event that is open to the entire Nacogdoches and SFA communities that will lead up to the game versus Southeastern Louisiana at 2:00 p.m.
"There will be plenty for Lumberjack fans of all ages to enjoy," Jessica Layfield, communication coordinator for NCUW, said. "Volunteers from NIBCO will be grilling hot dogs for people, student volunteers will be out there with face paint and the SFA Steel Drum band will be out there to perform before the game."
In addition to those activities, three prominent Nacogdoches residents - Sgt. Greg Sowell of the Nacogdoches Police Department, Dr. Adam Peck, dean of SFA student affairs and Gary Lee Ashcraft, president and CEO of NCUW - will be competing to see who can get the most people to pie them in the face. Pie pans full of whipped cream will be available for a $1 donation for participants to pie their favorite contestant.
NCUW is also raffling off the chance to throw out the first pitch of the game for a $1 donation.
There are actually two United Way events happening at Jaycees Field on Saturday - the Live United with the Jacks event, which is open to everyone, and the second annual SFA Student United Way Kids Fitness Day, a field day for children who participate in some of our United Way agency programs.
The Student United Way has put together a series of fun and active games for the kids to participate in, including an inflatable obstacle course, sack races, a ring toss and more.
"We are expecting about 150 children from Glory Gang and Solid Foundation, as well as some from the Head Start program," Layfield said. "These kids will be put into small groups and a pair of SFA students will serve as their team leaders and encourage them through obstacles, make sure all of the kids stay hydrated and serve as positive role models for the kids to look up to."
After all the activities the children will be able to interact with the baseball players before the game gets underway. Some will run out on the field with the starters as they take their positions, others will stand with the rest of the players on the foul ball line as the national anthem plays and still others will get the game started by yelling "Play ball!" All of these children will be able to attend the SFA Baseball game free of charge.
"The kids look up to the players so much, and they are so excited to get to be out on the field with them," Layfield said. "It's a great experience for them to get to interact with such outstanding student athletes, and it may even inspire some of them to believe that they can one day be a college student too."
"I've been looking forward to this event all year," Layfield said. "We have a really strong volunteer leader, Stephanie Sobel, who has taken charge of coordinating this event and this year's event is going to be fantastic as a result of all her hard work."
