LMU RAILSPLITTER NEWS

LINCOLN MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY

OFFICE OF SPORTS INFORMATION

Sports Release                                                                                                                     December 4, 2007

LMU Student-Athletes Help ROHO Club Bring Christmas Cheer

HARROGATE, TN – Tuesday morning was a special occasion for 177 local area elementary children.  Each year a local non-profit organization, the ROHO Club communicates with elementary schools from several surrounding counties to help select the neediest children in each school.  177 children are selected by each school’s administrative staff to participate in the ROHO’s annual shopping spree held at the Middlesboro, Kentucky Wal-Mart and are accompanied by “ROHO Helpers” that assist each child with finding the appropriate clothing and various toys.  The children are also escorted by their “ROHO Helper” to visit with Santa Claus and to an area designated in the store for a complimentary meal provided by the Wal-Mart.

The ROHO organization was formed in the late 60’s and comprised of former Jaycees members with the intent of helping to raise money for several needy area children to buy them clothes and several toys near Christmas time that they wouldn’t otherwise get.  These former members were termed “exhausted roosters” by the Jaycees organization when service to the national organization was over.  Around that same time, country music legend Archie Campbell had a song that was popular on the charts entitled “ROHO the Rooster.”  The ROHO organization soon adopted the named and quickly became popular throughout the local community by holding a yearly fishing tournament the first weekend of May each year.  The tournament is the club’s main fundraiser for the shopping spree. 

In the club’s first few years, only a few hundred tickets were sold however, ticket sales for the 2007 ROHO Fishing Tournament numbered near 4,600 with all proceeds going to help purchase the items at Tuesday’s 2007 ROHO Shopping Spree.

“It can break your heart,” said ROHO member and LMU Sports Information Director Rusty Peace.  “Some of these children ask if they can get things for their little brothers or sisters because they realize they may not get anything for Christmas.  It’s such a heartbreaking request; you just wish that you could help all of their siblings.  The ROHOS are just ordinary, everyday guys that want to help children and you can never go wrong by helping a child.”

Along with “ROHO Helpers” from several counties and all walks of life, members of the Lincoln Memorial University men’s and women’s basketball teams, members of the Lady Railsplitter volleyball team, and several LMU coaches each took an individual child through the store on a shopping spree that consisted of $100.00 in clothes and $30.00 in toys.  The $130.00 spent on each child is all tax exempt, allowing the children and their helper to get as many items as possible for the money.

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