By Rob Schabert, TTU Sports Information Director
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Saturday was one of the final few days off
for the Tennessee Tech football team before fall camp begins in
August.
Like most Americans, the Golden Eagles could have gone to the lake
to cool off. They could have done any of hundreds of other Summer
activities.
But about 40 members of the squad spent most of the day helping
out at the Mustard Seed Ranch, just outside of Cookeville, doing a
variety of projects to assist the youth home.
The list of jobs the Golden Eagles filled Saturday included
painting hundreds of yards of fencing, washing gutters and windows,
and digging holes and placing fence posts. In the evening, with the
hard work completed, the players spent some time relaxing with the
kids who live at Mustard Seed Ranch, playing some football and
diving into some pizza.
"Installing fence posts is a new deal for me," said sophomore Brett
Dillard, the returning starter at right tackle. "I've never
done any fence building before, but it's a great feeling to be able
to help the ranch, help the kids, and be a good influence from the
community. To be someone they can look up to."
Despite temperatures in the 90s, not a negative word was heard
from the players working hard.
"When you're doing something good for somebody, you kind of forget
about the heat," Dillard said. "It's not necessarily what you might
want to be doing on a Saturday, but when you're out here helping
these kids, you realize maybe it really is what you want to be
doing."
The work project was part of a summer Interdisciplinary Studies
course entitled Academic and Community Success. Each student
completed 6 hours of service learning as part of the course.
Mustard Seed Ranch (MSR) is an interdenominational Christian
ministry serving children who have been neglected, abused, orphaned
or are in need of a loving family environment. MSR sows seeds of
hope in the hearts of children by providing healing through
spiritual, emotional, intellectual and physical support while
meeting the needs of their social development. Ultimately, the MSR
hopes to reintegrate healthy young Christian individuals into
society equipped to achieve the purpose God has in their own lives.
click here
to view the Mustard Seed Ranch website
Jordan
Johnson, the returning starter at noseguard, was one of the
offensive and defensive linemen called upon for the physically
tough job of digging post holes. It was a new experience for the
senior from Miami.
"We're really here to put some smiles on the kid's faces," Johnson
said. "It's hard work out here, but we're just having a good time.
Being from Miami, we don't need to dig too many post holes. This is
the first time I've ever done this, but I think I'm getting the
hang of it now."
Some snapshots from Saturday's projects at Mustard Seed Ranch:
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photos by Jocelyn VerVelde and Rob
Schabert
Watch for a special video piece with interviews this fall as a
feature segment on The Watson Brown Show
