Alex Mercier didn’t want to do a typical senior thesis project. The walk-on wide receiver at the University of Washington wanted to do something that could make a difference.
So in June, Mercier called a friend, Lynette Huffman Johnson, with a proposal. Maybe Mercier, a music major who had produced a six-track CD called “Husky Nation” with several teammates, could work with Johnson, a professional photographer based in Ballard, and benefit some kids in need.
Johnson runs a non-profit organization called Soulumination, in which she takes photographs of ill children – often critically ill – to give their parents something tangible to hold.
The parents receive the photos for free, and the organization continues through donations and profits Johnson makes shooting weddings and other events. A session for one family costs about $300 for the film, development and presentation. When Johnson started the project a few years ago, she worked with five families. Today, she’s up to 70, and willing to help more.
And maybe Mercier’s contribution will help, too. The Edmonds native, who has been slowed by a hamstring injury this fall, will begin selling the CD through the Soulumination Web site as well as at Husky games and possibly at University of Washington kiosks in various malls. The CD will be ready to go on sale in about a week.
“It started as part senior thesis and part just trying to get the team going,” Mercier said. “I thought it would be a good team-builder. But then I thought if we can make some money for the charity, that would be great. And we’ve gone from there.”
In fact, Mercier has done even more than cut the CD, which features six rap/hip hop songs by Husky teammates Quintin Daniels, Marlon Wood, Chris Hemphill, Charles Smith and J.R. Wolfork, and comedic interludes by defensive backs C.J. Wallace and Roy Lewis. He also gathered a group of teammates – including Lewis, Daniels, Wood and Hemphill – to visit with some of the kids and pose for pictures.
“It was fabulous, just a great pairing,” Johnson said. “They stayed for a long time and never got tired of it. They were so gentle and kind with the kids, they were really pros about it. It was a really special day for all of them. Every one of the boys was magic with the kids.”
For the players, the experience of working with kids who struggle simply to live every day was a humbling experience.
“The kids were so small and fragile and we were these big giants to them,” Lewis said. “They were looking up to us, smiling and they warmed up to us and opened up to us, and that was a great accomplishment. They live a different life then us and I felt really privileged and honored to be around those kids.”
“These kids had cancer and were premature babies,” Daniels said. “I can see the difference that we made because it made them feel good about themselves. Their parents and them could just take some time to not think about their illnesses and have a good time.”
Mercier said he didn’t have trouble selling the idea to teammates. Because Division I football is basically a full-time job for the players, many are more than willing to do something outside of the sport.
“We spend so much time working on football,” Mercier said, “that they love having opportunities to do things outside and help people out. We did the shoots and guys were telling me to let them know the next time we were going to do one because they wanted to be involved. It’s something they really enjoy.”
Washington coach Tyrone Willingham says he’s thrilled any time his players step forward to help in the community, but wanted it to be clear that this was a project Mercier and his teammates took on themselves, and was not mandated by the program.
“He and the young men that put together the ‘Husky Nation’ CD and then to have the ability to help someone else with such project is fantastic,” Willingham said. “It’s really in keeping with what our department and what our program should stand for, along with winning games. … Those young men are doing a fantastic service to help another family and another cause, and they should receive all the credit for that.”
Mercier said the teaming of he and Soulumination is a positive for everyone involved. The kids get the experience of interacting with “big-time” athletes, the players get the feeling of helping people less fortunate, and Mercier hopes it will also help his career in music along.
“It’s worked out great because Lynette has been willing to do a lot of the legwork in terms of promoting the project,” Mercier said. “She’s really good at that. And for us to be able to combine something we did for fun with helping out something that’s really important, it’s a great situation.”
The players said working with the kids helps put football in perspective. A sprained ankle or sore shoulder maybe doesn’t hurt quite as much anymore.
“They have far worse problems than we have,” Daniels said. “To see them like that and to see they still have so much spirit and were always smiling, it was enlightening.”
“It gave us the opportunity to look at things through a different perspective,” Lewis said. “It wasn’t about us, it was all about them. You see that someone is always worse off than you and you realize that you can always put others first. It’s the same as with football, we talk about team before individual. This was the same concept. The kids were the center of everything. That was the best part of it.”
Johnson said she hasn’t done a ton of promotion for Soulumination, yet somehow word has gotten out about the project. The program has been featured on all of the national morning shows as well as local media outlets and People Magazine. But she said the potential of the Husky Nation project is one of the best forms of publicity she’s seen.
“It’s one of the most clever fundraisers I’ve seen,” she said. “Just the idea of pairing these big guys with these little kids. And it was important to me to have some of them here with the kids, so that they could understand what the money we hope to raise is going to.”
“Whatever good we can do with it is going to be great,” Mercier said. “It’s a way for us to show that, yeah, we’re football players, but we understand that there’s more to life than just what takes place around us every day. If we can give something back, we’re excited to do that.”
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