Meet Christy from Suffolk, Virginia

Welcome to Christy’s page. We’re happy to have Christy join our group of Heroes because of her desire to help her son’s varsity high school wrestling team. Christy works as an office manager but was also working as our scout in Suffolk to let us know about this need. Her grandmother always said Christy was an angel in disguise and she was right. She told us that many of the parents could not afford the clothing and equipment needed for them to compete. Their coach, Mr. Tripp, “give his heart and soul in all he does for the boys,” according to Christy. Here is Coach Tripp’s description of what’s needed by his team:

Our uniforms and warm-ups date back to 1992 and the newest singlet we wear is from 1997. All the warm-up jackets are over 10 years old are either torn or all the letters have came off of them. The team wore 3 different singlets this season because there was not enough of one style to fit the whole team. Most the singlets we wore had holes in them or were severely worn down and some kids had to wear a size to big or small for the matches. This season each wrestler had to come out of their own pocket to buy a sweatshirt and sweatpants so the team would have the same warm-up on before the matches and a lot of them ripped because the quality of the sweatshirts and sweatpants were not that great because of money issues. The team also has no bags to carry their equipment in and some kids wear there wrestling clothes to school for the whole day because they do not have any other means of bringing their clothes. The team also only has one exercise bike that has only one pedal on it that is broken off. The team has a few jump ropes that were brought over from an elementary school and most are to short for the wrestlers. We would also like to purchase headgear for the team and matching wrestling shoes which are required for the team.

With Christy’s grant of $7,000 here’s what each athlete will receive:
• New singlets
• New warm up suits
• New athletic shoes
• New sweatshirts & sweatpants
• New equipment bags

The team will also receive 20 jump ropes and 2 exercise bikes. Now they’ll have matching uniforms, too!

Diary Starts Here

April 21st, 2009
Christy sent us a quick update... Christy emailed, "I have attached some of Billy’s Senior pictures. He will be graduating June 13th… wow time sure does go fast. Then on June 15th he will be leaving for Marine Boot Camp in Parris Island, SC. He has made me so proud!!!!"

March 4th, 2009
Here's a Warriors season update from Christy...
"The wrestling team finished 3rd in the Phoebus Duals going 4-1 on the day. The warriors then followed up with a runner up finish at the Lake Taylor Invitational. Winning the tournament were Conor O'Hara and Damien Bester. Dashon Eure, Vicquan Arrington, and Antoine Hardy finished 2nd. Matt Krogsund and Terrance Hardy finished 3rd.
Next up for the team was the district tournament. After struggling through the season and finishing 9th in regular season, the Warriors finished 5th overall in the tournament, half of a point out of 4th place. The Warriors qualified 6 wrestlers for the region tournament - a first in school history. Dashon Eure, Conor O'Hara and Vicquan Arrington finished 2nd, Matt Krogsund and Damien Bester finished 3rd and Antoine Hardy finished 4th. At the region tournament, Conor and Vicquan finished 3rd, qualifying for the state tournament and Dashon finished 5th. The team finished in the top 15. This past weekend was the state tournament and the wrestling team was represented well: Conor finished 5th and Vicquan finished 6th. It was the first time in school history that 2 wrestlers placed in the state tournament." Congratulations to Christy and the team!

Dec. 11th, 2008
Christy sent us a photo of the wrestling team in their great new uniforms.

Dec. 8th, 2008
Christy sent us an update on the wrestling team today.

"Saturday night the Wrestling team won the first annual Warrior Rumble. The team went 5-0 on the day defeating Warhill, 55-30, Green Run 42-40, Norcom 71-6, Northhampton 61-12 and Landstown 39-36. The championship match was back and forth and the Warriors got key pins from Antoine Hardy, Dashon Eure, Matt Krogsund, Damien Bester and Viquan Arrington to win the match. Going 5-0 on the day were Antoine Hardy, Dashon Eure, Matt Krogsund, and Conor O'Hara. going 4-1 were Christian Beatty, Terrance Hardy and Damien Bester. Viquan Arrington went 3-0 on the day.

Congratulations to Matt Krogsund for being named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.

The Warriors kicked off their season on Wednesday night against Churchland and Menchville defeating both teams 55-24 and 55-27.

The Warriors are 7-0 to start the season. Dating back to last season the Warriors are on a 10 match winning streak.

Next up for the Warrior Wrestling team is December 12-13 at the Denbigh Invitational. This tournament is both JV and Varsity so everyone will be wrestling. last year the JV finished in 3rd place and the varsity finished 7th both out of 16 teams so we look to make improvement this year!"

Nov. 10th, 2008
Official practice starts today! Christy says the guys look great in their new gear. And this year, they will be hosting a high school tournament on December 6th.

Oct. 3rd, 2008
Christy is finishing up her shopping for the wrestling team. The team has started practicing and the season is right around the corner. They are all going to look sharp thanks to her gift. LIke most moms, she's been busy with school starting. Her daughter is going into the 7th grade and son is a Senior this year, and he also joined the Marines! He'll be leaving the day after graduation next year which is Father’s Day. He's in the delayed entry program. Wow, Christy, you have been busy! We look forward to updates on the wrestling competitions.

July 23rd, 2008
What a wonderful and loving husband Christy has! He surprised her by saving all of the newspaper articles and having them matted and framed. When she went upstairs to the playroom/office it was hanging above their desk! She was so touched she cried. "I kept saying to him that I have felt like I won the lottery and wished I could save the whole moment in time," said Christy, "and he did for me!!!!!"

June 2nd, 2008
Good news: The white and red singlates and the jackets came in last week for the wrestling team and they all look great! The team loves them and can't wait to wear them when the season starts up. The jump ropes are in too, and there's still more to come.

April 4th, 2008
We heard from Christy today and it looks like they'll be ordering their items next week. And she received a call from the principal, Mr. Maclimore, thanking her for everything she's done and for thinking of the school and team. He said they were going to recognize her at the spring athletic awards ceremony. Christy says she's still pinching herself!

March 24th, 2008
Christy's passion for the team is also shared by their coach. He sent this really nice note...

"Jenny,
Thank you again for what you did for the Nansemond River Wrestling Team. This is a great group of young men and they really deserve it. They really make my job enjoyable and I can honestly say that everyday I look forward to going to practice and teaching them how to wrestle. Again thank you for everything not just for our team but for everyone that you are helping.
Thank you,
Tripp Seed,
Head Wrestling Coach
Nansemond River High School"

It's my pleasure, Coach Tripp.

March 18th, 2008
I called Christy today and she said people were stopping her on the street saying, "Aren't you the one who was crying on TV?" Her passion for the wrestling team was clear to see. She told me that Coach Tripp was already out getting prices for some of their new gear.

March 13th, 2008
I called Christy at work to give her the good news but things didn’t go as smoothly as I hoped. Just before my call I found out that her local TV news crew wanted to be there. So I decided to call the company where she works and pretend I needed a quote so I could talk to a co-worker to help coordinate the TV crew. But Christy answered the phone! So I said, "Who could I speak to for a quote?" She said, "Commercial or residential?" What? I wasn't prepared for the 3rd degree. I said residential and she said, "We don't do residential." I panicked and pretended I got another call and "accidently" disconnected her.

Okay, it was time for plan B. I called the news crew who was already parked outside, out of view. While we were discussing what to do, the cameraman saw someone leaving out the front door so we hung up and he approached this person. Luckily, it was an employee who showed him the best way to go in and surprise Christy. We agreed that I would call him one minute before my phone call. I did, he went in, I called, and Christy cried. She was so happy and so am I. She said she must have checked our website 50 times a day, wondering if she’d be selected. She was, and the first call she was going to make was to the wrestling team’s coach, Mr. Tripp.

Christy was on the WAVY-TV evening news, and is featured in Friday’s Suffolk News Herald and the Virginia Pilot. Christy, it’s time to start shopping!

Christy's Email
We just received an email from Christy...

"I want to THANK both you and Jenny Jones! I am still on cloud nine and haven’t come down yet! This is truly amazing and words can not express my feelings. I can’t thank you enough for allowing to make my dream come true!!!! Jenny is truly an angel, not just for me but for all who she is touching in her selections. It has been a crazy day with the news reporter and the newspaper reporters! But wonderful. I just watched my self on the 6:00 pm news and was so excited along with everyone else who has seen it and also who I have called, I have yelled it from a mountain top, are you sure you haven’t heard me from there. I will continue to give you updates. The coach is ecstatic and thankful. We are meeting at the school tomorrow to pull all the wrestlers down at 7:30 am and tell them in person, we will be taking a video of that to send to you for the website!

I was so nervous on camera…..I was crying and shaking (I am still shaking). Please no one pinch me! I am truly deeply grateful for everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so glad my application for the grant was read as it was meant in my heart!
A million, trillion thanks to you!
Have a blessed day!

Christy"

Another email from Christy

"Good Morning!

I just wanted to give you an update, we met this morning with the team and gave them all newspapers they were so excited!!!!! They were smiling ear to ear, and not to mention I received some hugs. I took lots of pictures and a video of them being told, I will email to you this weekend or by Monday for the site.
Thank you again!!!!!!

Christy"