Kelsey Patterson is proving to be a recruiter along the lines of her husband, TCU coach Gary Patterson.
She has enlisted 20 wives of college head football coaches for a fundraising effort to help relief agencies in the Houston area, Florida and Puerto Rico.
“The response was immediate and positive. Everybody wanted to participate,” Mrs. Patterson said. “It was just a matter of being compliant with their universities, and we expect more to join us.”
The project, called “Giving Beyond The Game,” will raise funds through a web site and an online auction in November that will include helmets signed by the head coaches of the participating schools, including Auburn, Clemson, Miami, Michigan State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Stanford, Texas, Washington, West Virginia and TCU.
The online auction opens Nov. 1 and closes Nov. 15.
During Hurricane Harvey, TCU opened its athletic facilities to the Rice football team, which could not return to Houston immediately from its trip to Australia to play Stanford. The Owls stayed in Fort Worth for five days.
“Rice was here at the time, and Gary and I were visiting as to how we could do something, so we tossed it around for a while,” Mrs. Patterson said. “I just sent out a few emails and said, ‘Hey, ‘let’s do this.’ The project blossomed.”
The proceeds are targeted for the Houston Food Bank, the Texas A&M Veterinary Emergency Team, Feeding South Florida and agencies in Puerto Rico.
“We want to make sure the money goes to local charities that are really on the ground doing work,” Mrs. Patterson said.
Carlos Mendez: 817-390-7760, @calexmendez
This story was originally published October 04, 2017 5:17 PM.