O Heroes Hosts Be Change Running Club
EUGENE, Ore. ? The University of Oregon Athletic Department’s O Heroes program hosted 20 kids from the Be Change Running Club, a group of inner-city elementary school students from Sacramento, Calif. The kids toured the athletic department facilities on Wednesday, highlighted by trips to Autzen Stadium and Historic Hayward Field.
The Be Change Running Club was created for students (grades 4-6) from Sacramento’s Oakridge Elementary School, where the youth come from underprivileged backgrounds. Since the creation of the running club, the members are training after school and disciplining themselves in an effort to achieve.
“This group represents what O Heroes is all about,” James Harris, Assistant A.D. for Student-Athlete Development said. “We want to inspire youth to use athletics to stay healthy, have fun and most importantly seek higher education. With hard work and dedication in the classroom, I know we will be seeing them again very soon.”
The visit to UO was part of the group’s “I have never” trip, where the youth completed their own version of a bucket list. The running club checked off the following “I have never ...” items from their lists, including Nos. 7 and 8 in their visit to UO’s campus:
1. Been out of my neighborhood (completed Sunday, June 14)
2. Been out of California (completed Sunday, June 14)
3. Camped (completed Sunday, June 14)
4. Seen the ocean (completed Monday, June 15)
5. Owned a pair of Nike shoes (Nike tour, completed Tuesday, June 16)
6. Stayed at a hotel (completed Tuesday, June 16)
7. Seen a college campus (completed Wednesday, June 17)
8. Believed college was possible (completed Wednesday, June 17)
In addition to touring the facilities with UO student-athletes, the children were given an Oregon Cross Country T-shirt.
“To walk on the University of Oregon track for three minutes or to run a single lap, something so simple, could change the destiny and birth a dream in every child,” Jason Harper, founder of the Be Change Running Club said.
After learning of the running group, Nike offered to host the Oakridge Elementary School students. Members of the Nike children’s design team provide a site tour of the world campus on Tuesday.
To learn more about the Be Change Running Club, or to sponsor a child, visit www.bechange.cc or call (916) 856-5651.
