The mantra of the Penn State football program is not only to win championships, but also to promote family values and to mold young men into strong adults.
It should come as no surprise then, that Nittany Lions young and old are lending a helping hand this weekend at the first annual Blue-White Scholarship Breakfast.
The event begins at 9 a.m. tomorrow at the Nittany Lion Inn with the goal of raising money for scholarships created by the Community Refuge Education and Recreation Center (CRERC). The center is a non-profit organization located in Manalapan, N.J., and was started in 1999 by Carmen Rubin, wife of former Penn State safety Lee Rubin.
The breakfast will also double as a fundraiser for the Penn State Pilgrimage, a yearly trip to the Blue-White game, run by the CRERC, which brings young men, ranging in age from 11-19, from New Jersey to Penn State in order to experience and learn about the possibilities of higher education.
The event will include some big-time names from the Lions' past. Former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, former wideout Terry Smith and Don Ferrell, who was instrumental in creating the academic advising system for Penn State student-athletes, will all give speeches at the breakfast.
Also featured at the fundraiser will be a silent auction on autographed collectibles from former Lion standouts like Lenny Moore, Kyle Brady and Tyoka Jackson. Bobby Engram of the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks is also slated to be a special guest at the event.
"We've been very fortunate," said Rubin, who played at Penn State from 1989-93. "And I've been overwhelmed with the response of people like Jerry and Bobby."
Rubin likened the atmosphere of the event to that of a reunion.
"I can only credit their participation to having a constructive purpose for our event and them feeling comfortable being a part of it."
Dwayne Fitzpatrick, the coordinator of the event, mirrored that sentiment. Fitzpatrick said that it was important to have people with recognizable names support a cause in order to garner peoples' attention.
Although this is the inaugural for Blue-White Scholarship Breakfast for the CRERC, it will be the group's seventh Penn State Pilgrimage trip.
"Our objective for the trip is to expose these young people to college; many come from families with family members who have never gone to college," Rubin said. "The trip is really to help expose them to a completely different world."
"The trip has definitely been a positive experience and an enlightening experience," Fitzpatrick said. "It has helped them to see there are other possibilities."
According to the group's Web site, the weekend will include team-building exercises, a guided tour of the Penn State athletic facilities and campus and an autograph session with the football team at Beaver Stadium.
Rubin said Penn State has been very accommodating throughout the whole process. "They've been very helpful and supportive within their limitations. It's a huge weekend, and they have a lot of people coming up," he said.
The event even mirrors the themes of the Penn State Football program -- making an effort to help turn young men into strong adults and promoting the family atmosphere that is so engrained within the history of the program.
Rubin wants the boys to take several things from this trip.
"I want them to be grateful, to be appreciative and to take a sense of responsibility. They're going to get some help from events like this," he said. "It would not hurt to see some of these men eventually end up at Penn State."
