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VERIZON HERITAGEApril 15, 2009Gregg RussellHILTON HEAD, SOUTH CAROLINA Q. Greg, you and your wife Linda founded the Hilton Head Heroes, some 11 years ago. Please tell us about it? GREGG RUSSELL: Well, Hilton Head Heroes has a home here in Sea Pines and week in and week out, year-round, we bring a family in, cost free from somewhere around the country for a cost-free vacation for a week with mom and dad and grandma and the siblings. And all these families have one thing in common, a critically ill or a terminally ill child. We try to give them a week away from the pressures of having a sick child and doctors and chemo and treatments and give them a week at the beach where they can run and play and see the dolphins and in many cases say good-bye to their little one who is sick. Q. You're a long-time resident of Hilton Head Island, well-known for singing "Under the Old Oak Tree" children songs for over 25 years. What was your idea in getting this rolling and making it successful? GREGG RUSSELL: I used to do a lot of work with Make A Wish and other foundations. And I thought we live in the best place in the world, why wouldn't we try to do something here? So we kind of stumbled into it. I made a habit of visiting children's hospitals around the country as I was performing, rather than sitting in a hotel another afternoon, just visit a children's hospital. We made a lot of contacts that way and relationships and it just kind of happened. Q. Well, you have a board of directors that is a who's who among athletes and certain celebrities. How have they helped you succeed in this? GREGG RUSSELL: Well, I think anytime someone like that lends their name to you, not only their name, but their checkbook and their integrity it helps a lot. Jim Nance from CBS Sports has been with us since the first day. I was saying earlier that he for years had a golf tournament out in Texas with Blaine McAllister and Freddie Couples, and they would always send a nice donation here. Corey Pavin has been here, and Paul Azinger, Peter Jacobsen, Stan Smith who is a local, you know, won Wimbledon and The Open, guys like that, men of character when they stand up and they put their stamp on it. It's important. I think it's meaningful to people so that they know that if they donate to us, it's going to a worthwhile entity. Q. If you had a long-term goal for it, what would it be? GREGG RUSSELL: I think we're at the point now where we probably need another house, because we have a lot of sick families out there. But the long-range goal, I think, is just to keep doing what we're doing and we never run out of families, that's the bad news. The good news and that we also never run out of this community being able to give and share with people who are really hurting, and I think it's a wonderful thing. Q. We're talking to Gregg Russell, he and his wife Linda founded Hilton Head Heroes. If any of our listeners wanted to get involved, do you have a website or phone number? GREGG RUSSELL: Yeah, just go to HiltonHeadHeroes.com or .org, either one. You can see all the kids and all the information right there. Q. Gregg, thank you very much for your time. Good luck, and best wishes. GREGG RUSSELL: Our pleasure, thank you very much. End of FastScripts |
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