The UH football team came together for something more uplifting than a pep rally, more important than a win and something even greater than a championship Friday afternoon at the tailgating pavilions of Robertson Stadium.
For head coach Art Briles, the experience of coming together with his team to serve the less fortunate was a profound one.
"It’s very humbling and it’s kind of an oxymoron because you’re uplifted, but you’re down at the same time," Briles said.
"You’re uplifted by being able to help and give to people that are in genuine need, but you’re down when you come to the realization that a lot of these people are going through tragic times and everyday they wake up and they’re not sure they’re going to have food in front of their face and clothes put on their back, so you know from that standpoint you’re emotions are kind of high to low."
Along with Briles, UH Athletics Director Dave Maggard, bands of supporters and other student-athletes, the Cougars partnered with Star of Hope Mission to battle hunger in the Houston community.
The athletes served hot dogs, hamburgers and cookies to three busloads of attendees, most of whom were children and homeless women from the Star of Hope.
Friday’s event was an equally rewarding experience for senior running back Anthony Alridge.
"Helping (the children) out when they don’t have any food and just being able to talk to them when they don’t have anyone to talk to is just a great experience for me," Alridge said.
The event, which was inspired by the donation of food from contributors June and Virgil Waggoner, served as the kickoff for the partnership between the UH Athletics Department and the Star of Hope Mission during the 2007 football season. Both encourage fans to bring non-perishable food items to Robertson Stadium on home games that will be donated to the Star of Hope Mission.
Although the football season is a few months away, Briles is confident the partnership with the UH Athletics Department and the Star of Hope Mission will flourish and meet it’s goal of combating hunger in the Houston area.
"I think (the partnership) is just going to continue to blossom and grow," Briles said. "It’s certainly something that we’re going to continue to be active with on our end and hopefully they’ll still be the same way."
According to Marilyn Fountain, manager of the Community Relations of the Star of Hope, this is the first time that UH has contributed on this level to the community. The Star of Hope is an organization that serves food, clothing, shelter and structured recovery programs to more than 900 people a day.
"(The event) is special because the focus is on young people and we’re serving up to a thousand people a day and a third of our population is children and so when you think about that it’s not a big leap to see how impacted children are by a circumstance of homelessness and one of the things that’s very difficult and impossible to see is a future for yourself when you’re in a circumstance of homelessness as a young person and you’ve done nothing to cause it and you cannot to anything to change it," Fountain said.
In addition to serving food, the student-athletes also took part in a limbo game, a hula-hoop competition and even signed autographs for the kids.
"This is something that has the potential to live in the hearts and minds of our clients well beyond this day," Fountain said.
"Even though it’s a festival environment, there are other things happening under the surface and part of that is that people who are at the worst time of their life feel connected and that they belong."
