Say what you will about Tim Tebow the football player, and there is plenty to say, but Tim Tebow helps a lot of people and does a lot of good things in the community. One community touched by his actions today is Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park, New York.
“Shen” High School was rocked over the weekend when 3 of their students were involved in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. Two of the students, Chris Stewart and Deanna Rivers, were killed and Matt Hardy is recovering. A fourth student, Bailey Wind of nearby Shaker Heights High was also injured. Hardy and Rivers were dating, as were Stewart and Wind.
So where does Tebow fit into the picture?
Friends of the victims decided to take to social media to see if they could help their friends through an unbelievably tough time. They started #TebowCallMatt on Twitter to get the topic trending and asked everybody and their mother to retweet (They also set up #MissyCallBailey to get Missy Franklin to call Wind). Normally I am very wary of RT beggars, you know the “My neighbor’s dog swallowed a penny, please RT support” crowd. I actually saw this when Chris Johnson of the Titans RT’d it. I was intrigued and decided to look into it further. Much to my surprise it was getting a lot of support.
Then just a little while ago, Matt’s brother Mike tweeted the following.
TIM TEBOW JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH MATT! SUCH A CLASS ACT!!
— Mike Hardy (@mike_hardy5) December 4, 2012
Very cool indeed.
As a high school teacher, I lost two students, seniors, in a car accident my first month as a teacher and know the devastating effect it has on a community. Something as trivial as a phone call from Tim Tebow will go a long way in helping the community heal. More importantly, it makes the victim’s name and story known, something we have learned that people tend to forget after other incidents this weekend.
From left, Chris Stewart, Bailey Wind, Deanna Rivers and Matt Hardy.