Lady Bulldogs Help Spread Holiday Cheer

GREENBELT, MD, ---It was hard to tell who was having more fun at the 18th Annual Cora Rice Prince George's County Police Community Christmas Party for Deserving Children held Saturday at Eleanor Roosevelt High School.

BSU Lady Bulldogs (from left to right) are: Rachill Robinson, Alicha Gill and Asia Haney.

The Bowie State University women's basketball team was on hand to help assist the county police in their annual event, but it looked as if they were having as good a time or better as the 480-plus children from the various county elementary schools. The team spent a few hours talking to the children, helping with coloring pictures and by the end, signing autographs for those that swarmed around them.

Women's basketball assistant coach Arlene Creek had known about the event for years, but the team was unable to attend the past few years because they had scheduled games. "I thought this would be something good for the girls to participate in," said Creek. All but two players were able to attend but those in attendance, including head coach Russell Davis, were glad they did.

"I love the kids and love to see how excited they get when they meet the Bowie State University women's basketball team," said KC Thompson. "They were telling me that they want to go to a game," she added. "It's good that we can be someone that they can look up to," said senior Mona-Gail Baker. "We might be able to give them some inspiration for a moment, and when they remember the girls from BSU they might say that they want to go to college someday," she ended.

The women's basketball team was just a small part of the event that was run by the Prince George's County Police, who had over 100 officers and command staff on hand. County bus drivers donated their time to transport the children and crossing guards were on hand to provide supervision. Santa Claus made an entrance just before noon, posing for pictures and also signing autographs. There was a lunch for everyone with the various food items donated by local business establishments and a show in Eleanor Roosevelt's auditorium. At the end of the day, each child received a backpack with gifts in it.

After lunch, Baker and freshman Allyson Hardy grabbed the microphone and entertained the room with their remixed version of "Jingle Bells" before getting the children to start a Jingle Bell chant.

"I'm having more fun than they are," said Hardy.

For head coach Davis, it was an event that was good for the children and one that was good for his team. "It is a good event and a great way to bring to a lot of kids. It's also good for our kids. It will bring them closer as a team and they will be able to look back and say they did something for their community."