The Bowling Green football team is hosting its annual Holidays with Falcon Football again this year on a date to be determined. The event provides a celebration for children in the Bowling Green community who might not otherwise have one.
This program, conceived and organized entirely by BGSU football student-athletes, hosted its inaugural event in 2018 with 36 local children, ranging in age from 2-12 years old. The goal for this year’s annual event is to be able to provide a holiday celebration for 50 children.
Holidays with Falcon Football consists of two events taking place, which includes shopping and then the gift giving. The first event consists of children, identified through local charitable organizations, and their families video chatting with a group of two to three BGSU football student-athletes.
This interaction allows the student-athletes and children to get to know each other, and for the football team to identify presents which will match the interests of the children. Ideally, a friendship can begin to form which would carry over into the spring, when there will be an opportunity to have visitors attend a team practice.
After meeting the children, the BGSU football team will go shopping with contributions to this program raised through private donations (the plan is to spend about $150 on each child).
The football players then wrap the presents they have chosen for their young friends, and on December 12th, the children will receive their presents that are to be placed under the tree and opened on Christmas.
“Holiday with the Falcons I think is one of the best give-back deals that we do here at Bowling Green,” said head coach Scot Loeffler.
“Our kids raised money throughout the year, and they were able to help really hundreds of kids in our area. They started before I got here, and I think it was one of my first couple weeks on the job we were over in that indoor building holding this event.
“It is powerful and our kids love helping those kids, so we’re super excited about one of our favorite events each year. We’ve got a bunch of character guys that will do a great job and give back to this community.”
The event was co-founded by Gabe Skrobot and Presley Motes.
“I got the idea from a program that my high school does every year for children in my community,” Skrobot said. “I saw how big of an impact it had on them and knew that the Bowling Green community could benefit from something similar.
“As a student-athlete, the Bowling Green community supported me and my teammates beyond measure that it was the least we could do to give back to the community. Seeing the program continue since my time at BGSU ended has brought me great joy.
“I’m so proud of my previous teammates for keeping the tradition alive. It is a testament to the culture and brotherhood within the BGSU Football program that they are all playing for something greater than themselves and truly want to make an impact during their time there.”
Motes added, “I was honored to be a part of the Holidays with Falcon Football events. There is nothing better than seeing the joy in a child’s eyes. This event gave the Falcon football team a chance to give back to our amazing community.
“I hope this is something that is carried on for many years because it is my favorite community outreach event I participated in as a Falcon.”
