As the number of shopping days until Christmas and Hanukkah continues to grow smaller, it was not a shock Wednesday night to see the Dick s Sporting Goods in Cool Springs bustling with holiday shoppers looking for the perfect gift for the athlete or fan on their list. A closer look at the patrons Wednesday night did reveal something unique, as several of them were being assisted by a couple of Nashville Predators rookies. Both Craig Smith and Anders Lindback transformed from their day jobs as hockey players into shopping assistants for the inner-city youths as they made their way around the store.
Dick s and the Predators joined together for a special Shop with a Jock event for 20 local kids from the Franktown Open Hearts Organization. Decked out in their Predators gold jerseys, Smith and Lindback walked around the large store assisting the kids with finding just the right items.
According to , Franktown s mission is to bring spiritual and physical hope to Williamson County s inner-city youth by being Jesus in their lives and by teaching them critical life skills.
We are being fathers to the fatherless, Franktown s Executive Director Dan Alexander said. 90% of our kids don t have a father in the home. Probably half of them don t even live with their mothers either. They live with their grandparents, aunts, or uncles. We will do anything for these kids that a parent will do for them.
According to Alexander, the 20 kids that were selected to participate in Wednesday night s event stood out as the most generous and giving of the many who are part of the organization. In the past, Franktown has been the recipient of other holiday shopping funds, and how the kids spend that money did not go unnoticed.
These are the kids that spend all of the money that we give them at Christmastime on their families, Alexander said. We wanted to make sure that we honor those kids for that. We told them to come to Dick s and cut loose. It is such a blessing that Dick s chose us to bless our kids like this.
Williamson County has a reputation of being very wealthy, but Alexander is quick to point out that there are many residents are poor and live in government housing.
A former NFL player, Alexander was a 2001 draft pick of the Tennessee Titans.
Kim Bittinger, Dick s Community Marketing Manager, thinks that partnering with the Predators is a natural fit for Dick s, since both organizations have such strong community values.
So many of our customers are passionate Predators fans, I am, and many of our employees are too, she said. It makes sense. It is just a great fit. They are very involved in the community, as are we. What a great combination to have them here and then of course to impact the lives of these kids. It is a once in a lifetime experience for some of these kids.
Being the holiday season, it is perfect timing.
After a quick talk and introduction of the players, each of the 20 kids received a Dick s gift card worth $100. They quickly scattered through the aisles, but nearly all of them ended up making their way toward the back of the store where the footwear is located.
They are really into the shoes and socks, Smith said. A lot of them play basketball, so they are looking to get some new shoes and some socks to go with their uniforms.
Smith later recalled what a great experience it was meeting some of the University of Wisconsin hockey players he looked up to when he was a kid growing up in his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin.
Despite the unseasonably warm weather outside and the fact that he is from Sweden, Lindback chose to wear a toque as an accompaniment to his Nashville jersey Wednesday.
It is always good to get out in the community and help out, he said. It is good to come out here and meet the kids.
While most of the kids circulated around the shoe section, Lindback made his way toward the kids clothing area where one of Franktown s younger members was looking at pants. Lindback did his best to offer sizing advice to the young man who eventually ducked into the fitting room to determine his actual size.
Dick s associates helped the kids by being stationed around the store with shopping carts to collect their items. The staffers also helped keep track of their running dollar amount too even giving a quick lesson in sales tax and how that impacts the overall bottom line of the gift card.
From the looks of the shopping carts, the kids took the advice Alexander gave them and treated themselves with the gift cards provided to them Wednesday. The executive director was effusive in his praise of both Dick s and the Predators for the experience his kids received as part of the Shop with a Jock program.
The Predators have been awesome to us, Alexander said. They are just a blessing. They are trying to bring publicity and notoriety to the charities that they serve. I have nothing but love for the Predators.
For a slideshow of Wednesday s event at Dick s, please click here .
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