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2020/21 virtual campaign: Meet the Londons
January 25, 2021
Our 2020 (errr, winter of 2021) virtual campaign is underway!
2020 presented a great deal of challenges for most of earth's population. However, we at the Gator Good Foundation like to focus on the positives, and one undeniable positive of 2020 for us was the privilege of being introduced to a tight-knit Broward County family that's recently faced more than its fair share of adversity.
Meet the Londons, the winners of our 2020/2021 virtual campaign. Zach London is a 13 year old die hard Gator fan who suffers from asthma, and is stuck at home attending school virtually these days. His mother Alison (UF Class of 1999) has recently battled, and most importantly, beaten
cancer; his father, Brian, lost his job as a sports talk show host
due to COVID-19, forcing the Londons to have to make do on Alison's salary as a teacher as Brian searches for work.
Meanwhile, Zach has been a rock-solid presence within the London household. He always does whatever he can to help his parents amidst their own struggles, and has done a remarkable job keeping his grades up despite the challenges around him (not to mention the challenge of virtual schooling!). His parents and his family friends all believed that the Gator Good Foundation was the perfect way to reward him for thriving in the face of incredible difficulties, and as soon as we heard his story, we agreed. The opportunity to reward a kid's success in the classroom and provide his hard-working parents with something to smile about made our decision for us.
So, what exactly are we doing for the London family? Well, a couple of things.
First and foremost, thanks to the generosity of each and every single one of y'all who donated to our cause, we had a good amount of money left over from our 2018 and 2019 campaigns without needing to generate more funds amidst the pandemic. We used some of that money to replenish the London family's supply of Gator gear, as that isn't a luxury they can afford these days. Among the items we sent them: a Ring of Honor t-shirt, a 2008 national championship- 10 year anniversary t-shirt, smack talking rivalry game victory shirts with "44-28" and "40-17" proudly displayed across the chest, a throwback white helmet that they can use as a centerpiece for any room, various 2020 SEC East Champions gear, and an adjustable 2019 Capital One Orange Bowl Champions hat- the same ones that the players wore for the on-field postgame trophy presentation. So thanks to you guys, all three of them can now proudly don gear that shows off the Gator football team's recent achievements.
The other main component to our 2020/21 virtual campaign is still in the works. We are looking to put together a video chat of current and former Gators with the Londons, in our best attempt to virtually mimic the postgame scene outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium where fans meet with players for autographs and pictures. If you are a current or former player who is interested in participating, or if you know one who might be interested, let us know by clicking that contact tab at the top of the page and reaching out to us! And this isn't just limited to football players; if you're a former Gator athlete of any sport, and you'd like to be involved, let us know! When we have a roster of current and former Gators set (we're looking for anywhere between 10-15), we'll begin to work on a date to make that happen.
Again, we thank each and every one of y'all from the bottom of our collective hearts for making this happen. And the Londons would like to extend the same sentiment.
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UPDATE: we can officially report that Ontario Jones had the time of his life. During a pregame tailgate, Ontario was presented with a football signed by former Florida Heisman/national championship winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel. After the game, Ontario got to meet several Gator football players, including Ethan White, Zach Carter, and Diwun Black. And best of all, the Gators got the win- and in a big way! After a bit of a slow start, Florida turned it on in the second half and blew Tennessee away, 38-14! Special thank you to each and every Gator fan who helped make this happen. See you again next year! (Original blog post begins below.) Every season, the Gator Good Foundation comes together to bring an underprivileged, but deserving, Florida Gator football fan to a Gator football game for the first time. At least, that’s the plan . It’s a plan that we executed to great success in 2018 as well as in 2019 , but a plan that COVID-19 threw a monkey wrench into a year ago and relegated us to a virtual campaign in 2020 . It was our pleasure to provide the London family with an awesome Gator swag bag during a difficult time for them- but now, in 2021, the time has come for us to get back to doing what we originally set out to do: help make a special Gator fan’s dream of experiencing Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on a Saturday in the fall a reality. We received no shortage of deserving applicants for this year’s campaign. The purpose of a non-profit organization is to help those in need experience something they ordinarily would not be able to experience, and after a year off, we had a surplus of candidates who fit that bill. So it is after a long, exhaustive search that we at the Gator Good Foundation believe we have found the perfect candidate. Meet Ontario Jones, our 2021 winner. Ontario is a diehard Florida Gator fan from just outside of Oklahoma City, and a distant cousin of former Gator quarterback Gavin Dickey. Despite his diehard fandom, Ontario has unfortunately never been able to attend a Gator football game due to various obstacles throughout his life, as well as being stationed overseas to serve our country in the Army.
Due to COVID-19, we have decided that it is not feasible to bring a fan to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for a Florida Gator football game in 2020. The mission of the Gator Good Foundation is to provide an underprivileged Gator fan with the experience of a lifetime, and even with the precautions that the University of Florida is taking, we do not believe that such an experience is possible in the middle of a pandemic. As disappointed as we are, we feel that the responsible thing to do is wait until the spring of 2021 and begin to re-evaluate things then. However, by no means are we taking the year off. We are currently in the process of putting together a care package for a deserving fan in 2020. The exact details of the package are still being worked out, but its goal will ultimately be the same as it is when we bring a fan to the stadium: to enhance his or her experience of cheering for the Florida Gators as much as possible. We expect to announce the contents of the package soon. In the meantime, we are still looking for candidates for both the care package this season and to take to a game when it becomes safe to do so. If you believe that you or someone you know is worthy of consideration, please reach out to us with as many details as possible- either via direct message on social media or by email (gatorgoodfoundation@gmail.com). If you would like to donate to our cause, the links to do so are in the bios of our various social media pages. Above all else, we hope everybody stays safe and healthy as we continue to battle through this unprecedented array of turbulence. Go Gators!
After our successful 2018 campaign that saw us bring Scoot to the 2018 Florida-South Carolina game, we began actively looking for candidates to replicate the experience for in 2019. After a long and difficult search, we settled on Austin Nevins, a 19 year old from Nashville. Austin, a high school sophomore, has experienced severe health problems since birth, including stomach and kidney complications, strokes, seizures, learning and speech disabilities, and ADHD. Throughout his many challenges and the surgeries required to address them, he developed a lifelong love of Gator football. As his aunt told us, Gator football is the one thing in a life filled with stress that calms him down. Just as we did with Scoot, we quickly raised over $1,500 for Austin's first ever Gator football experience against his hometown Vanderbilt Commodores, which included a Gainesville hotel, a special Gator-themed cake for him at a pregame tailgate, and plenty of Gator gear. This time around, we were also able to secure club level seats for Austin and his aunt Kelsey thanks to an extremely generous donation from the Gator fan who had purchased them. Thus, Austin got to enjoy the 56-0 beatdown Florida handed Vanderbilt that day in style, smiling from ear to ear each of the eight times the Gators reached the end zone and the school fight song blared throughout the stadium. Then Austin's fun really began. Following the game's conclusion, Austin stopped by the stadium exit where the players came out, where he got to take pictures with players and obtain their autographs on his assortment of gear. After an hour or so, when the players cleared out, Austin was welcomed over to the house of Florida linebacker James Houston IV, where the entire Houston family made a point to introduce themselves and talk to him about his favorite subject. Throughout the weekend, WUFTV reporter Zach Oliveri was there every step of the way to document Austin's experience. The resulting story he produced elicited a five word description of the experience from Austin that we strive to make happen for every future candidate: "Today's been the best day."
Well before we were an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation, and before we even had a name, we were just five Gator fans who had heard the heartbreaking story of a young man named Kentavien "Scoot" Walker, who suffers from a learning disability. Scoot, a high school student in southern Georgia who served as a manager of his high school football team, was bullied by the same students he was spending his time helping. Despite the incessant hazing, Scoot continued washing the team's dirty uniforms and equipment until one day it reached a breaking point and he told his mother about it, who promptly expressed her hurt for her son in a Facebook post. That Facebook post quickly took off, and soon enough, it was revealed that Scoot was a die hard Gator fan who had never been to a Gator football game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville. So we teamed up to create a GoFundMe account designed to pay for all the expenses required to bring Scoot to his first ever Gator football game. To our delight, we quickly raised over $1,500, which was more than enough to acquire game tickets to Florida's 2018 SEC finale against South Carolina, a hotel room in Gainesville, food for Scoot and his family for the weekend and an assortment of Gator gear to take home. Scoot also got to enjoy an exclusive tour of the stadium and take the field for the pre-game color guard ceremony before taking his seat and watching Florida erase a late 31-14 deficit to shock the Gamecocks in a 35-31 victory. After the game, Scoot met several Gator players, who were more than happy to pose for pictures with him and sign some of the gear he'd received, and he went home with memories he would never forget. The campaign was so successful that we decided to begin doing the same thing for a different die hard Gator fan every year. And thus, the Gator Good Foundation was born.
