Former Football Stars Team Up to Help Students

Two former local football stars have teamed up to support local high schools to raise funds for the schools’ student assistance funds.

The Cory Holt Foundation and Josh Bush Foundation have joined together through their individual non-profit organizations to seek donations to help all of the high schools in Davidson County, Lexington and Thomasville to raise money for the school’s “emergency” funds, which help students pay for extra items such a sports gear, clothing, graduation fees, prom tickets or other extraneous items.

Their goal is to raise $10,000 and to split the proceeds equally between Lexington, Thomasville, North Davidson, South Davidson, East Davidson, West Davidson, Central Davidson, Oak Grove and Ledford high schools.

Although it is a joint venture, donations for the project can be made at The Josh Bush Foundation. They will be accepting donations through Oct. 3.

Holt said that he and Bush came up with the idea after a discussion with a long-time teacher who told them that there are a lot of students who struggle to pay for basic school supplies and can’t manage any of the extras. “So many students have bigger needs than we are aware of,” Holt said. “We wanted to do something that would include all of the schools, not just Lexington, not just West Davidson, but all of the schools. We figured that all of these schools already have these student assistance programs, so that would fit in very well with what we wanted to do.”

Both men said that one of the reasons they began this initiative is to bring school communities back together and have healthy and respected athletics. Holt a recent racial incident has somewhat divided the community and they wanted something to bring student together, not separate or isolate them.

“We can’t let the comments of a couple of students speak for a whole community,” Holt said. “There could be 100 students in that same school that don’t feel that way. We wanted to do something that lets everyone have an open discussions. ... We started our foundations because we wanted to give back, to inspire, empower and to uplift.”

Original article posted at The Dispatch.