William & Mary Athletes Connect with 3 Hospitals
Sean Aiken, a baseball player at The College of William & Mary and long-time friend of Tanner's, contacted us about spreading our goals toward the eastern Virginia region of Williamsburg and Richmond. It was his idea: his project from start to delivery! All of us were so impressed, and truthfully, proud to work with a man who obviously realizes how to give back to his community and fellow man. Please finish reading the rest of the story in Sean's words. Thank you, Sean!
I had the pleasure of getting to know Tanner and the Smith family from an early age, and while my memories of time spent with Tanner include countless baseball games, watching in awe on the basketball court, or spending summers playing games of pool basketball until our feet were blistered, perhaps what stands out the most in my mind when I think of him is the first Tanner’s Totes drive we ever did. As we are now all college graduates, it seems like forever ago our baseball team was putting together our first drive, but Tanner’s Totes and the manifestation of the core values behind the project have, and always will, stay with me. So, when our SAAC representatives (Student Athlete Advisory Council) at The College of William & Mary were trying to put together a service project for the spring semester, it was clear to me that Tanner’s Totes was going to be the one I pushed for. Luckily, when you have an organization such as Tanner’s Totes, there isn’t much pushing you have to do. I gave a presentation on the organization and why it was started, showed a brief clip from the website, and minutes later had full support from all of our athletic teams.
When all was said and done, we had partnered with three different children’s hospitals in Virginia (VCU Children’s Hospital, Chippenham Hospital, and UVA Children’s Hospital) and had 18 totes filled and ready to be delivered by several of our Tribe athletes. The project got the word out about the organization, got people excited about helping those who received the totes, and instilled a sense of thoughtful reflection in all of us. It hit especially close to home for those who delivered the totes, and although none of the baseball players were able to deliver since we were in season, it held a special worth with us as well as the team that brought Tanner’s Totes to our athletic department.
“Knowing that you can put a smile on a kid’s face that is facing one of the toughest challenges anyone ever has to endure is something that sticks with you forever and the Tanner’s Totes initiative instilled that since of realization in the entire Tribe Athletics community. We are truly fortunate to have been able to help such a worthy and respectable organization.”
