Georgia took its final visit of the year to Camp Sunshine Wednesday afternoon. A small group of players, but a group that took the visit to the next level. Guys like Jake Fromm, Charlie Woerner and JR Reed believe that Camp Sunshine is more than just a day off for them. The visit is a way for them to help a kid smile and as camp director, Moe Thrasher puts, ‘be these kids heroes.’
One of the things Georgia players got to do while at Camp Sunshine was take a tour around the entire facility to see what camp’s like for these campers each week. Thrasher gave the tour himself, and throughout kept telling the player that they’re the heroes to these kids. Every stop the group made, he reiterates and tells them that at Camp Sunshine, heroes wear that ‘Bulldog red’. Three players, in particular, took that message to heart.
On Jake Fromm’s second trip he had a few more fans than he did this time last year. He starred on the radio station and had all the kids laughing with him. However, one of the best memories from the day was a young boy about 10 or 11 running up to him and yelling, “Oh my goodness!! It’s Jake Fromm!” The interaction was one of the sweetest touches of the day. Of course, Fromm stopped and talked to the camper giving him a high five and a hug. Fromm summed it up perfectly about what this experience means not only him but everyone who wears the red and black.
Every time we throw on this jersey and put on red and black we mean a lot to a lot of people,” Fromm states. “It’s something we can’t take lightly and it’s super fun to see the smiles and the looks on some of these kids faces. You can kind of relate with what they’re going through, but it’s a way to get their mind off of it. We’re here hanging out with them and it’s so much fun. The experience you get to spend with these kids and the day you get to make to someone. We come and try to make the campers day and really they end up making our day.”
JR Reed also took his second visit this summer to Camp Sunshine. In fact, a group of girls from Cabin 4 took him away from the tour. The girls helped him create a small bead-like G for him to take home in the arts and crafts building. Reed took to these girls and made sure to make them smile.
It’s amazing! I just attach to different kids all the time and I find a new cabin every time I come out here. I always have a blast with the kids,” Reed said. “This is my second time out here and it’s my favorite time. I really connected with a lot of kids out here.”
Charlie Woerner didn’t say much during the tour, but observing him during the visit said it all. He smiled, high fived, hugged with every single kid that walked up to him. Woerner joined in on the dodgeball game and helped kids on his team win. There wasn’t a time during the entire visit he wasn’t smiling. To him, this trip is one of the best things about being a football player for Georgia.
It means a great deal to me. It means more than being a great player on the field, catching a touchdown or making a block. I think being a hero to these kids with cancer is one of the most awesome things about being a UGA football player. Well,one of the best aspects of it,” Woerner states. “You can actually mean so much to some kid and it doesn’t matter if you’re a good player or not. It’s so cool to see what we mean to these kids.”
Camp Sunshine is one of the best events the football team gets to do. The visit shows them that there’s more to life than just winning football games. Thrasher put it best when he said, “heroes here wear Bulldog red and that G. So be these kids heroes because they’ll remember this for a lifetime.”
Below, check out each player’s full interview
Charlie Woerner:
Jake Fromm:
JR Reed: