Muskegon Catholic Central, Western Michigan Christian softball - TopicsExpress

Muskegon Catholic Central, Western Michigan Christian softball teams raise nearly $3,000 for family of Marquis Gresham as reported on Mlive MUSKEGON, MI – They’re rivals on the field, but when it comes to helping someone in need, they play for the same team. Muskegon Catholic Central and Western Michigan Christian are the two most prominent parochial schools in the Muskegon area. As a result, their meetings in athletics are often heated. Recently, the two schools came together to help the Muskegon community when members of the Crusaders and Warriors softball teams raised nearly $3,000 for the family of Marquis Gresham, the 17-year-old Muskegon Heights basketball player who was shot and killed on April 23. The money will be used to help Gresham’s family with funeral costs. Greshams funeral will be at noon on Friday, May 2 at Muskegon Heights High School, 2441 Sanford St. Visitation with family will be 2-6 p.m. on Thursday, May 1, at Toombs Funeral Home, 2108 Peck St. “This was a horrible event that took place. I hope we can help the young man’s family,” said WMC softball coach Jeff Nestell. “I just want to show people what Christianity is all about. The girls on my team are better for it; they grew a little bit today.” Nestell said the plan to raise money was set into motion last Thursday when the school held a prayer vigil the day after the shooting took place. “At practice that day, the girls and I got to talking about it,” Nestell said. “I could tell that it was something that really affected them. I mean, this was someone who is their age and who played at their school. Some of our students knew Marquis personally.” That Saturday, during a trip up north with his family, Nestell was dared to do the “Cold Water Challenge, a Facebook craze which dares people to jump into cold water or donate money to charity. From that, an idea was born. “People always do the Cold Water Challenge and end up not donating anything to charity,” Nestell said. “I wanted to break the mold and act. I wanted to do something different.” Nestell called his friend, MCC softball coach Ken Patterson, and proposed his idea. If the girls on both of their teams could raise at least $1,000 together, then the coaches would jump in cold water. If the girls failed to raise $1,000, the players would jump in. “It took me less than two seconds to say yes,” Patterson said. On Tuesday, students and members of the WMC softball team arrived at school early and asked parents dropping students off for donations. Within 45 minutes, the team had collected $665. By the end of the day, the total was $916. Wednesday was MCC’s day to fund-raise. Using the same strategy as WMC the day before, students and members of the softball team raised about $2,000 for the cause. Patterson said his team’s fundraising efforts were aided by a status posted on MCC’s Facebook page. According to athletic director Erich Adams, the post got more traffic than any in the history of the page. “Marquis didn’t go to our school,” Patterson said. “But there are kids at our school who knew him. If you search his name on MLive, the first thing that comes up is a story about him being shot; the next is a picture of him playing basketball in our school against MCC. It’s something these kids relate to.” Each day, the teams brought the money they raised to Muskegon Heights Public School Academy, where administrators had no idea the fundraising effort was taking place. Still, both Nestell and Patterson were adamant that their goodwill isn’t about them, but helping a community member in need. “The MCC parents and community have to be the most generous people I’ve ever met,” Patterson said. “They spend money to send their kids to school, but when things like this come up, they jump at the chance to help. I’m honored to be a coach at the school.” The Warriors and Crusaders will meet on the softball field at MCC at 4 p.m. Friday, May 2. Following their doubleheader, both teams will head to Lake Michigan where Nestell and Patterson will take the plunge into the icy waters. Patterson said some of his players may even participate as a sign of team unity. “It’s great”, Patterson said. “Thirty seconds of cold water is nothing. We can deal with that. We’re jumping into Lake Michigan instead of Muskegon Lake because if we’re doing this, we’re going big. Go big or go home.”