Tuesday, December 06, 2011

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Dec. 6, 2011) – An ETSU holiday tradition continued on Tuesday evening, as the ETSU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics partnered with Coalition for Kids to celebrate "A Buccaneer Christmas.”

Tuesday's one-hour event began at 6 p.m. with roughly 60 children from Coalition for Kids entering the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center to interact with ETSU scholar-athletes and meet Santa. The children were fed dinner and also given the chance to decorate cookies with the athletes.

The event was initially spearheaded by head strength and conditioning coach Lee Morrow, and it has continued to grow throughout the years as different groups within the community and ETSU have taken the initiative to make this a special evening for the children.   

“The history of this event dates back about 11 years now,” said Morrow. “Barbie Breedlove and I have kept the event going and expanded it to where the students play a bigger role. We take underprivileged children, who do not have the opportunity to have a regular Christmas, and try to provide them with a great time around our student-athletes.

“The event continues to get better and better every year. In reality, it’s our student-athletes who make the event run by interacting with the kids and showing the true meaning of the holidays.”

This annual "ABC" event had a lot of groups assisting in putting together the special celebration including: ETSU Athletics, the Alcohol Awareness Task Force, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), S&M Amusements and Clarence Mabe.

For more information on ETSU Athletics, please visit ETSUBucs.com