- April 24, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
Vail Linn donated $5,000 of her profits from her T-Shirt company to the Seabreeze Best Buddies and Project Unify Programs. Photo by Jeff Dawsey
Jasmine Taylor won Most Inspirational Player because she likes to motivate all of her teammates, and Reagan Blanar won Most Team Spirit, because she always has the most spirit, and it showed at the banquet. Photo by Jeff Dawsey
Luke Boatner, who was in attendance, co-founded the Best Buddies program, because he and his twin brother, Sam, wanted to play sports with their brother with special needs, Brady. Photo by Jeff Dawsey
To kick off the Unified sports banquet for the Seabreeze Project Unify partners and Special Olympics athletes, Seabreeze senior Vail Linn presented some of the athletes with personalized quirky awards, and then she gifted every Special Olympics athlete with a Nike drawstring bag and an iPod on Tuesday, May, 23, at the Halifax River Yacht Club. She was only getting started.
As if an evening in the prestigious ballroom wasn’t enough, the unified athletes were served their choice of chicken marsala or spaghetti and jumbo meatballs while enjoying a slideshow of themselves in action throughout the past year. Last year, their banquet was held at the school.
“I’ve never been around students who were so happy every day. I’m a very positive person, so to be around that positivity was infectious.”
VAIL LINN, on Seabreeze' students with special needs in Best Buddies and Project Unify
During the ceremony part of the evening, all of the athletes were called to the front of the room and often met with ovations for their many awards and varsity letters some received from competition. But, even after a handful of accolades, Linn had more to give them.
She ended the night by first giving gifts and thanking the Project Unify coaches, Anthony McLoughlin, John Coppa and Vanessa Emerson (also coaches Mike Fries and Walter McCoy who were not in attendance). Then she presented the program with two new iPad minis for the students to play games with and a check for $5,000 that she had collected from her Happy Go Lucky T-Shirt business.
“There are not very many high school kids who would go out and generate money to continue a cause like this,” McLoughlin said. “If you’ve met her, you know that Vail lights up the room when she walks in. Our students do backflips when they see her. Vail has been unbelievable since day No. 1. She takes the time to develop personal relationships with each of our kids and staff, and she will greatly be missed.”
Linn’s company has raised over $11,000, which she donates all back to the Best Buddies and Project Unify programs at Seabreeze.
When asked about her motivation to not only spend so much time with them but to also give all of her profits to their programs, she credited the students themselves.
“The second I walked in the door on the first day, they were smiling and wanted to play games with me,” she said.
Linn is headed to Princeton University where hopes to continue similar work.
To see more photos from the banquet, click here: http://www.ormondbeachobserver.com/photo-gallery/photo-gallery-seabreeze-project-unify-banquet?time=1495590669
