Three Pitt football players in defensive linemen, redshirt senior Deslin Alexandre and redshirt junior Calijah Kancey, and redshirt junior defensive back Brandon Hill served lunch to families at Ronald McDonald House Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon.
Ronald McDonald House Pittsburgh is at Children’s Hospital in the Lawrenceville area. It helps families that need to travel to Pittsburgh to receive pediatric medical care in the area, giving them places to sleep, relax and stay near other families who are also dealing with difficult situations.
Alexandre, Kancey and Hill served this lunch through the Pitt NIL collective, Alliance 412.
“It means everything,” Hill said about serving lunch with the Pittsburgh Ronald McDonald House. “It’s just a great feeling to give back because you never know what someone’s going through. You never know what you could say or do to make somebody’s day and it’s a blessing. It’s a blessing because me and my teammates have been blessed in opportunities that we’ve been presented with. Just to give back it’s a blessing.”
Each of the Pitt players took part in helping the families and their children look through the wide assortment of foods available. This included chips, cookies, salad, sandwich wraps and a wide assortment of fruit, like oranges, clementines and bananas. They also took time to take pictures with the families and engaged in pleasant conversations with the children while they helped them pick out food.
West Virginia players, redshirt junior wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton, sophomore offensive lineman Zach Frazier and redshirt sophomore running back Tony Mathis Jr., came together to serve lunch at the same time at Ronald McDonald House Morgantown. They also served lunch through their WVU NIL collective, Country Roads Trust, which is the counterpart to Alliance 412.
Each of the Pitt players present spoke about the importance of using NIL, particularly Alliance 412, to help the Pittsburgh community.
“It’s not always more about receiving, it’s about giving,” Kancey said. “I’m a big believer of giving and I love giving back. That’s something that I’ve always wanted to do and Alliance 412 has helped me now and in the future to give back.”
Alexandre is one player who already started doing extensive charity work this year. Last month, he announced the The Fifth Down Campaign to raise funds for school children in his native Cap-Haitien, Haiti. Alexandre spoke about how pleased he is with how the initiative is going so far and hopes the upcoming season will highlight his efforts going forward.
“It’s been going really well,” Alexandre said. “I think we’re up to $6,000 now and it’s doing well. As the season goes along it’ll continue to do well. I think it’s just amazing to be born in Haiti and be able to help those people out also. So that’s something true and dear to me and I plan to continue to help people, even after my platform leaves.”
The Pitt and WVU players, along with Alliance 412 and Country Roads Trust, are competing against each other to raise the most money for their respective Ronald McDonald House. They will take donations until the end of the Sept. 1 Backyard Brawl and the collective that raises the most money receives a trophy.
To donate, visit https://RMHCBG.givesmart.com.
FAN. tastic young men from both squads doing things the RIGHT away. for a great cause . Hope they tie in contributions ( at high numbers) just not in the game.