Hello Niners Nation! As you may remember, during the 2010 season, Justin Smith was awarded the Perry/Yonamine Unity Award. In Justin’s honor, the San Francisco 49er Foundation donated $10,000 to the Okizu Foundation (www.okizu.org). As a long-time volunteer for Okizu, I was lucky enough to be a guest of the 49ers and be on the field for the pre-game ceremony during the Tampa Bay game to see Justin receive the award and the presentation to Okizu. (My avatar/screen image is from that game during the pre-game warm-ups.) And while that game was horrific to watch (apologies to my 49er friends for resurrecting some very bad memories of that game and that season), seeing my sports idols up-close-and-personal was indeed a serious thrill for me!
So, what is the point of this FanPost you ask? I’m inviting you to join me on Sunday, September 9, 2012, in participating in a fun, fast, 5k run, the Feather Falls Run, www.featherfallsrun.org, to be held on the beautiful UC Davis campus. All proceeds will be going directly to Camp Okizu. Okizu was established over 30 years ago to act as a residency camp for kids and families suffering through childhood cancer. I cannot think of a better organization and because it is almost entirely volunteer-based, we rely on donations and fund-raising efforts such as this.
In the spirit of summer camps everywhere, we all have camp names at Okizu; mine is Homer. So if you do contact the organizers, tell ‘em Homer sent you. I cannot promise you’ll get any better treatment or seconds shaved off your time if you do mention my name, but you will be helping out some really great kids and their families. Plus, if Justin Smith endorses Okizu, how can it be bad?
Thanks to Fooch, here are a couple of links to Justin receiving the award and to the presentation itself:
I have to say, as a small-statured guy, seeing Smith in person is unbelievable. My first impression was, this must be what a rabbit feels when confronting a grizzly bear. He is simply put, a very, very large man. He is also very nice and yes, my hand is still hurting 2-years after he shook it.
Hope to see you on September 9 and perhaps we could all gather at a local sports bar to watch the 9ers kick the Packers butts! Justin will be proud!
