The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Nation Shows Up to Support Columbia, Miss.
2/18/2015 | Student-Athlete Development
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss Athletic Department and greater Oxford-Lafayette communities showed up in droves to support tornado relief efforts for Columbia, Mississippi, which was devastated by deadly tornadoes during the holiday season.
Ole Miss Athletics in conjunction with the Oxford and Lafayette communities collected 100 boxes of supplies to send to Columbia, Miss. Those boxes included clothing, food, water, paper products, toiletries and several mattresses donated from Johnson's Furniture. The donations filled up the football equipment trailer and were delivered to Columbia on Feb. 13.
"We are grateful for the giving spirit of the Ole Miss family so that we can support those in need within our great state of Mississippi," said Ole Miss athletic director, Ross Bjork. " The citizens of Columbia, suffered a great loss and this was just a small show of community support that we could help facilitate. We simply provided the people power and a semi-truck. The good-hearted people of Oxford and Ole Miss provided the needed items. They did the hard part and we are most appreciative of their contributions. We have been told these items were in need and this effort filled a void, months after the tornado. Thank you to all that gave and contributed their time to this effort."
One of those that helped was Ole Miss sophomore Jon Luke Watts, a Columbia, Mississippi native and member of the Ole Miss track and field team.
"On behalf of Columbia, I cannot say thank you enough," said Watts. "Columbia was devastated, and I'm proud to compete for a University so willing to come together to bring aid to those in need. The support of the Ole Miss community speaks volumes to how we think of ourselves here as family and I'm glad to be a member of the Ole Miss family."
Assistant athletic director of student-athlete development, Jennifer Saxon helped organize the event and is very appreciative of everyone's willingness to help our fellow Mississippians.
"I would like to thank the Oxford and Lafayette Communities for their generous outpouring of support for the residents of Columbia, Mississippi," said Saxon. "Rebel Nation is always supportive and willing to answer the call to help our fellow Mississippians in a time of need. I would also like to thank our athletics director Ross Bjork. His leadership and foresight to coordinate the relief efforts made this all possible."
Ole Miss Student-Athlete Development Mission
The mission of Ole Miss' Student-Athlete Development program is to challenge student-athletes to be lifelong learners while pursuing continuous improvement academically, relationally, socially, personally, and professionally during and beyond their careers as student-athletes.
Student-Athlete Development is the hub for a wide range of Ole Miss athletics sponsored programs designed to meet the needs of student-athletes and their families. It is divided into six areas: Student-Athlete Assistance Services, Career Development, Continuing Education, Community Outreach, Financial Education and Career Transition.
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