28 years ago, Jon Absey (the original Utah Jazz Bear) was honored to be asked to be part of a charity event that was started by Brenda Hoskins and was called Childs Christmas. The name came from Bill Childs who originally funded a Christmas shop that took hundreds of underprivileged children shopping for Christmas presents.
After many years Bill Childs had to step away and we found another huge (tall) supporter of the Christmas shop. This amazing person was no other than Mark Eaton. Mark, helped us facilitate the shop and we used his charity, Standing Tall for Youth Foundation. By this time we had a lot of amazing people start to get involved with this wonderful event for children. Roxanne Hasagawa, Andy Chudd, Jonna Carp[enter, Staci Hasagawa and Eldon Farnsworth and so many others all stepped up to be part of the Christmas shop.
Once again after many years Mark Eaton had to step away and we had to find another charity to help us with raising funds to take children shopping. Eldon Farnsworth, stepped up with his charity, Firemen and Friends for Kids Foundation. Once again we were on our way to supporting children in the community. This time though we needed to find another avenue to raise funds.
So we challenged Becky Whites, Sports Marketing Class at Lehi High School to come up with a fun and exciting way to promote, organize, and oversee the Mascot Bowl event. Becky Whites class was so successful at it that it continued on for more then 18 years and had thousands of families attend each year. With their help we were able to raise over a half a million dollars in all those years to take thousands of children shopping for Christmas presents. Not only were we able to take children in our community, but also children from other communities from all over the state.
This year it's Providence Hall Charter Schools turn to host Mascot Bowl and make it a huge success for years to come.
The Mascot Bowl will allow the students of Providence Hall to participate in the Fireman and Friends’ tradition of taking hundreds of underprivileged children Christmas shopping each year. By participating in this event, the high school students will be provided with opportunities in securing business sponsorships, event marketing, game operations, speaking to media, and facilitating all other aspects of this event. Then the PHHS kids get to chaperone young children in the community to buy Christmas presents so they have presents under the tree this year.
The event is a football game that puts a team of mascots from the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB and local colleges against a team of 9th Graders. The game is complemented with a variety of events from celebrity "Meet and Greets" with photo ops and autographs to face painting, games, food trucks, skydivers, halftime entertainment, and a fireworks show finale. The first year was a success and Mascot Bowl has grown by leaps and bounds. Being in its 22nd year, Mascot bowl has become a prized possession of the community and we can't do it without our amazing fans.