GIFT STRUMMING HEARTSTRINGS youth BIG & Rich in charity





Kenny Alphin (left) and John Rich of the country music duo Big & Rich.







-




The U12 Culpeper Comets decided to use any raffle proceeds to help others.



Soccer team to raffle off Big & Rich guitar to help families in need
BY DONNIE JOHNSTON


Date published: 10/3/2007

BY DONNIE JOHNSTON

It is a case of kids wanting to help others instead of themselves.

A few weeks ago, country music stars Big & Rich donated an autographed guitar to the U12 Culpeper Comets to help the travel soccer team raise money.

Kenny Alphin (aka Big Kenny) is from Culpeper and he and Paul Bates went to school together and remain friends.

So, when Bates' daughter, Quinn-Lynn, began wondering how she might help her soccer team raise money, Bates called Alphin and asked him to donate something the girls could raffle off.

"Kenny sent a guitar," says Donna Bates, Paul's wife. "It is a three-quarter size Squire, made by Fender."

The acoustic guitar is autographed by Big & Rich and also contains the individual signatures of Alphin and John Rich.

The guitar was so impressive that the soccer team wasn't content to raffle it off simply to raise money for new uniforms and to travel to tournaments.

"They wanted to do something to benefit the community with it," says Bates.

At about the same time the guitar arrived, Culpeper plumbing contractor Butch Mills was seriously injured in a ditch collapse.

"Butch's daughter, Sierra, had played on this team a few years ago, so the girls decided it would be nice to help his family," Bates says.

They also wanted to help the family of local resident Lee Linthicum, who has been stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease.

"They decided to raffle off the Big & Rich guitar and split all the proceeds between the two families," Bates says.

Here the adults took over. Donna Bates, a team mom, and Careen Laster Angel, the team manager, began looking into how to set up such a raffle. Predictably, there were legal hurdles that took the team several weeks to overcome.

No matter what the obstacles, Bates says the players wouldn't let the adults give up. "The girls were really determined to do this," she says.

Legally, the Culpeper Soccer Association is sponsoring the raffle. But the girls are making it happen.

"One girl has already gone through her neighborhood and sold a book of tickets," Bates says.

"The soccer girls really feel good about this," she adds.

Donnie Johnston:
Email: djohnston@freelancestar.com

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2...0032007/322060