There were lots of essentials on Luke Cotton’s Christmas shopping list, one of which was a blanket for his mom. Thanks to South Carolina’s electric cooperatives, the fourth grader from Myrtle Beach Elementary left his local Target with his list complete and a new friend in Andrew Jackson High’s all-star linebacker Fuller Sims.
“The main thing that stood out to me was that he was making sure he got all the things that he needed, but he wanted to get something for his mom,” says Sims. “It was his day, and he chose to buy something for his mom.”
Sims was among 88 of South Carolina’s top high school football players selected to play in the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl, an annual all-star game played in December at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach. A few days before the North team’s 22–14 victory over the South, opposing players from each team partnered to assist 44 deserving kids from Horry County Schools for a Christmas shopping spree at a local Target store.
The shopping spree has become a tradition during the bowl week since South Carolina’s electric cooperatives began sponsoring the game. The cooperatives provide each child, chosen by school district officials, a $150 Target gift card to spend on clothes, toys, and other items on their Christmas list. In addition to the shopping spree and the game, players also participated in Lineman Demo Day, in which they explored careers as lineworkers through hands-on demonstrations presented by Horry Electric Cooperative linemen.
“The one that I thought was cool was putting on the belt with all the equipment,” says Davis. “He was showing us how much they have to trust that belt to hold you to the pole.”