Coronavirus robbed high school seniors of graduation. Allen Hurns saw a chance to help
Dolphins receiver Allen Hurns’ pandemic lockdown routine sounds pretty familiar.
He works from home (granted, his Zoom calls are with head coach Brian Flores and offensive coordinator Chan Gailey).
He works out from home (granted, he uses exercise equipment provided by a $3 billion NFL franchise).
And he checks in with out-of-town family and friends pretty much every day.
“Staying healthy, staying out of the way,” Hurns said. “Crazy ain’t the word” for life right now, he added.
But Hurns knows many aren’t so lucky. Millions of Americans have gotten sick. Tens of thousands have died. Long-standing plans have been ruined.
Like high school graduations. For an entire class of students, there was no “Pomp and Circumstance.” No prom. No senior trips.
“The were robbed of their senior activities,” Hurns’ mom, Erica Wilson said. “I found it very profound on my end. I was a high school dropout, and I didn’t get a chance to walk across the stage or participate. So it touched me very deeply.”
She told Hurns just that, and together they decided to do what they could to make life a little bit better for several deserving graduating seniors.
Using Hurns’ charitable foundation, 88 Blessings, they created the S.O.A.R. Movement, which will help 17 deserving seniors (Hurns’ jersey number is 17) heading off to college who have been impacted by COVID-19. Winners will receive college prep care packages — including sheets, utensils and even shoes — as well as long-term support like financial education and health care.
“Things that can help them out,” Hurns said. “They’re going into situations where they’re not going to know a lot of things. Everything I try to do is something I can relate to. When I went to college and the NFL, I had to learn a lot about taxes, credit cards, whatever. We’re going to be involved.”
We wrote back in December about Hurns’ close relationship with his mother, who overcame poverty in Miami to raise a future pro athlete.
Rock bottom came Hurns’ sophomore year at Carol City, when Wilson couldn’t find a new place to live before getting evicted from her home. So she sent her children to stay with family, and for two nights, Wilson spent the night in her vehicle.
Hurns and Wilson are thankfully in a much better place financially now, but have not forgotten their humble roots. Mother and son started 88 Blessings, “a foundation that offers advice, resources and a support system to single parents.”
The nonprofit aims to “build a community that offers advice, resources, and a support system to refocus their energy, solve their financial problems, or grow a business to provide for their families.”
The need has only grown in the age of coronavirus, with widespread unemployment and under-employment.
88 Blessings announced their latest initiative a few weeks back and asked for seniors to apply. Ultimately, nearly 100 did.
Winners include an aspiring biochemist from St. Augustine who was third in her graduating class and an excellent student raised by his aunt after his mother was murdered. The 17 winners will receive the big prizes, but Wilson said all of the applicants will get some sort of support.
Hurns has had the time to help organize, because about the only other thing on his schedule right now is the Dolphins’ offseason program, which is being conducted virtually this year because of coronavirus.
“It’s pretty much like regular meetings,” Hurns said. “We’ll start with team, special teams, offense and defense. We’ve been doing a lot of individuals. We’ve got a new [offensive coordinator, Gailey], and we’ve been learning his playbook. It’s been useful. At first, I thought it was a little weird, but we really needed it, because we don’t know when we’ll be back.”
▪ The Dolphins are inviting their fans to honor Don Shula’s passing by allowing them to view his statue at the stadium next Friday and Saturday, so long as they follow social distancing guidelines. The organization encourages fans not to bring items to leave at the statue.
The times: 2-7 p.m. on May 22 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on May 23.
“In the future, the organization will host a separate public memorial at Hard Rock Stadium once it is deemed safe for large scale events,” the team announced. “More information to come as details become available.”
