LANSING - Medical experts and some MSU coaches and athletes met up to kick off the new “Athletes for Kids” program Friday at the Lansing Center.
“We got together and decided we wanted to do something for the whole community,” said Dr. Tony Briningstool, a physician at Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital and a former MSU football player. Briningstool played a major role in the creation of the program.
The program is a spin-off from the popular “Coaches for Kids” program, which was founded by former MSU football coach Nick Saban. Current coach Bobby Williams is participating in the program and attended the kickoff as well.
“It’s a great program for the community,” Williams said. “It’s great that we’ve been able to get this thing started. It’s been great to be involved.”
The program’s intent is to raise funds to furnish the proposed emergency room and waiting room at Sparrow, intended just for children.
The “Coaches for Kids” program has already been raising funds for the project for a number of years. And if the project is successful, it will be mid-Michigan’s only pediatric emergency room - something supporters believe will prove to be a cornerstone for the Lansing area.
“What we want to do is foster an environment where kids know someone cares,” said Waymer Moore, a member of the Sparrow steering committee. “Anytime you can reach one kid, you’ve done a good thing.”
The Sparrow emergency room generally sees about 73,000 patients each year. Of those, an estimated 18,000 are children. The numbers provide encouragement for athletes in the area who want to participate in the program.
Mike Peplowski, a member of the MSU basketball team from 1988-93, currently resides in the Lansing area and was happy to lend his support for the new program. The program currently consists of 12 members, and continues to grow.
“It’s going fast but it never goes fast enough,” Peplowski said. “It’s a campaign that needs to happen. A cause like this is something that the whole community can benefit from.”
The River Street Pub, located in the Lansing Center, 333 E. Michigan Ave., was full of athletes and hospital officials eager to discuss the new program.
“One of the neatest things is that we’re seeing kids get involved in their community,” said Duane Vernon, who serves as co-chairman of the “Coaches for Kids” program. “We need that in the future - it’s one of the nicest parts of the program.
“It’s grown by leaps and bounds.”
