The Harrington Family Foundation

By George Sipple
An e-mail for help went out to equipment managers of NFL and college teams. A Lions cornerback stood before his teammates and challenged them to donate. A Lion's wife heard about two Detroit men organizing their own relief effort. And the Lions' director for community relations helped put it all together.

As a result, a convoy of 10 tractor trailers is scheduled to leave Michigan this morning for Louisiana State University with food, water, clothing and other necessities for Hurricane Katrina evacuees and rescue workers. It will include $45,954 worth of supplies donated by the Lions and purchased Tuesday morning by Fernando Bryant, Joey Harrington and Jared DeVries.

This is a story of how some well-known people and some not-so-well-known people decided to go above and beyond in a time of crisis.

On Saturday, the day after the Lions' 21-7 victory at Buffalo in the exhibition finale, coach Steve Mariucci talked to his team about relief efforts. He asked Bryant, a starting cornerback known in NFL circles for charitable works, whether he wanted to address his teammates. Bryant challenged them to act.

"I told them what I was doing," Bryant said Tuesday, before he filled three carts with children's books and toys at a Costco in Bloomfield Township. "With the kind of money that we make, you should be ashamed if you don't give."

Players, coaches and Ford Field staff donated $75,354.

About the same time as Bryant's challenge, DeVries' wife, Jamie, learned about Nick Zander of Brighton and Vince Soulsby of Macomb Township. They had organized a drop-off starting last Thursday for food, clothing and other supplies at the Rosemack Plaza parking lot at 13 1/2 Mile and Little Mack in Roseville. Soulsby had organized a similar effort after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. He saved the phone numbers for people who helped him and began making a round of calls he hoped he'd never have to make.

Jamie DeVries told Tim Pendell, the Lions' director for community affairs, about Zander and Soulsby. Pendell had learned about Bryant's call for donations.

In the meantime, Lions equipment manager Tim O'Neill learned in a mass appeal e-mail that LSU equipment manager Greg Stringfellow was in dire need of supplies. Not money. Supplies, and right away.

So Pendell visited Zander and Soulsby in Roseville on Saturday and passed on Stringfellow's number. At the time, Zander and Soulsby didn't know where they would take all the stuff they had collected. (One businessman, for instance, donated 31,000 protein bars.) After a call to Stringfellow, Zander and Soulsby knew: Baton Rouge.

LSU's campus has become a linchpin for relief efforts. Besides their daily duties with the football team, Stringfellow's staff does laundry for a triage center set up at the basketball arena, Maravich Assembly Center. Maddox Fieldhouse is being used for special needs, and the track stadium is being used as a staging area.

"Tonight, we're going to start doing some laundry for the National Guard and military police," Stringfellow said Tuesday. "They've been in the same clothes for the last 10 days. They need some relief."

He said two NFL teams offered immediate assistance:

"The Vikings are sending two trucks. Coach (Mike) Tice personally called me and offered his support. The two teams I've personally talked to were the Vikings and the Lions."

In addition to the Lions' purchases at Costco, the team will donate about $30,000 to the American Red Cross and has asked fans to donate before Sunday's season opener against Green Bay. Red Cross volunteers will accept cash or checks as fans enter the stadium gates. (Checks should be made to the American Red Cross and designated for Hurricane Katrina Relief.)

"There are some players on our team that have families down there, or are from there," Mariucci told reporters at the Allen Park practice facility. "Whether they are from there or not, these guys care.

"We are just trying to do our small part in any way that we possibly can help out. I know a lot of communities around America are doing this very thing. It is very necessary that we do it as soon as we can and be as generous as we possibly can. So many people need our help."

Pendell said several Lions had family and friends affected by Hurricane Katrina. The family of defensive end James Hall was relocated from New Orleans. Special teams coach Chuck Priefer had relatives relocated to Houston. Former Lions great Lem Barney also had family relocated.

On Tuesday -- the players' day off -- Bryant, quarterback Harrington, defensive end DeVries and Lions community relations employees visited the Costco on Telegraph. They watched as two trucks were loaded on the dock. After talking to Zander and Soulsby, Harrington offered $10,000 to pay for the fuel for the trucks to get to Baton Rouge and back.

And this morning the convoy is scheduled to start its journey.

"The thing is, you hope and pray that it gets to the people who really, really need it," defensive end Kalimba Edwards said. "You hope it hits right in the heart of where it needs to be. The only thing you can do is have faith and pray about it."