Fruitland community comes together to support Mezick family with an athlete-a-thon Sunday
FRUITLAND, Md.- Erik Mezick is still missing after the box truck he was driving went into the Chesapeake Bay at the end of December.
The Athlete Academy and the Fruitland Falcons put on an athlete-a-thon, Sunday afternoon, to raise money for his kids, Dylan and Hannah.
“We have athletes coming out here to bear crawl, in honor of Erik Mezick to raise as much funds as possible for college funds for them,” Cody Revel, organizer of event, Athletes Celebrating Erik, said.
Together teams of people jogged and did bear crawls for an hour.
Organizers said the endurance needed for these activities demonstrates that as a family they celebrate both the good and bad together no matter the circumstances.
“I thought about what else can I do to one show the love and support to the family and two to help the other young athletes around here to help them understand that there is a deeper message behind this there is importance of working hard for something other than yourself,” Revel said.
The Falcons Youth Sports Organization said working with the Athlete Academy for this cause was a no brainier.
“We know that raising funds for their college education is definitely something that Erik would have wanted for both of his children so if we can help in any way we’re honored to do that,” Andrea Urban, with the Falcons Youth Sports Organization, said.
And Urban added that the family is grateful for the outpouring of love the community is showing them.
“They are overwhelmed by the amount of support that they are getting from our whole community and they are so proud of all of us for coming together to support them,” Urban said.
Organizers encourage community members to continue to reach out to the family, not just right now, but for months to come.
We are told that businesses and individual donors could sponsor an athlete or a team by committing to provide funding based on how many yards the teams covered in the one hour limit.
Concessions were also available with all proceeds going towards the Mezick family fundraiser.
