Fins Up Fund
From the Office of Keith Carter
Dear Ole Miss family:
The strength and generosity of Rebel Nation has been evident during these challenging times. Many of you have contacted us seeking opportunities to support and help our student-athletes who are directly impacted by COVID-19. In response to your kindness, the Fins Up Fund has been established to support student-athletes who are facing extreme circumstances as a result of the coronavirus. Money raised will go directly to assisting with medical bills and other necessary expenses resulting from an illness to either the student-athlete or his/her family member(s). Other examples of expenses could include groceries, toiletries, academic supplies for online classes, etc.
Thank you for supporting our Rebels, and we continue to seek new ways that our department can further help the student-athletes. I mentioned weekly meal cards in my last letter, and we appreciate the Oxford Papa John’s Pizza location for participating in the program this week. In addition, we will be distributing gear and training equipment to assist the athletes in their conditioning from home. Along with apparel for our student-athletes, we also supplied some to our local emergency management workers. With a shortage of medical gowns, ponchos were identified as a suitable alternative, and our department was able to partner with our official retail provider, Fanatics, to lend a hand.
While we strive to support the members of our community, we are proud to see one of our Mississippi-based partners make an impact on a national level. A generous friend to Ole Miss Athletics and others around our state, Jim Richards and KLLM Transport Services are keeping supply lines open during this time of crisis. One of the country’s largest haulers of perishable food and pharmaceuticals, KLLM drivers are taking advantage of the empty roads to deliver to Americans the supplies we need while helping manufacturers strengthen our economy. A big thanks to Jim and his team for their hard work and dedication.
As I promised in my first letter, we plan to keep fans informed of happenings in our department now more than ever during these difficult days. With that in mind, our weekly radio show, RebTalk, returns next week in a different form. “The Voice of the Rebels” David Kellum will host a weekly webcast/podcast that will feature interviews with some of the new faces in Ole Miss Athletics, health insight from our sports medicine staff and an administrative update from me on how our staff is planning and adapting to the latest challenges. Be on the lookout for time and streaming platforms in the days ahead.
It was bittersweet to bow out of the Ole Miss Bracket in the Elite Eight this week, but there was certainly no shame in losing to our all-time leading scorer, the great John Stroud. Thanks to our content team for creating the campaign, and we hope it’s provided a little fun on social media during these hard times. We will continue to produce engaging content and try to keep you and your families entertained at your house. If we can all stay home and follow proper safety guidelines now, we will be together again soon, cheering on our Rebels.
Go Rebs!
Keith