WARREN Korey Stringer Community Fund will help children

The Korey Stringer Fund will have a community feel.
By KURT SNYDER
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
WARREN -- Korey Stringer will always have a place in Warren. Kevin, the brother of the late football star, will see to it.
"Korey could have lived anywhere, but he had to live where he worked," said Kevin, 32, of Warren. "But if he had his choice sooner or later, he would have come back to Warren. I have no doubt about it."
Because Korey never had the chance to return to his hometown, The Korey Stringer Community Fund of the Cleveland Foundation will take his place. Headed by Kevin, who is the president of the fund, and his sister Kimberly, 24, also of Warren, who is the vice president, the fund will head but also assist with a wide variety of community activities primarily focusing on children both in Warren and the Mahoning Valley. But Kevin stressed the fund was not created for one cause in particular.
"We want to keep our definition broad so that we have the opportunity to move in different directions," Kevin said Thursday at his parents' home.
Three years after death
The announcement of the fund comes nearly three years to the day after Korey's death Aug. 1, 2001. Korey was a 1992 graduate of Warren G. Harding High School and played collegiate ball at Ohio State before playing in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings. The official announcement was made Friday at Horace Mann Elementary.
As the Stringer family would not find out until just a year ago, Stringer had met with his representatives in Minnesota about beginning community-oriented programs back in Mahoning Valley. Kevin said Korey had always been willing to help those in need. Korey volunteered in a special education classroom while in high school.
After connecting Wanda Benbow, coordinator of the fund, with those representatives in Minnesota, the fund finally began to take shape over the past year. The fund's first project will be completed next month when the fund provides transportation and food for 12 Warren area children to attend a science, math and engineering camp at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland.
While Kevin said children will be the group's initial focus, he said Kimberly would like to create a dress for success program or conduct interviewing workshops. He said he would also like to create a group for single fathers, as he is one, himself.
Cathy, Korey's mother, said she develops a sense of pride when she sees Korey's wishes carried out.
"Everything that has been happening that includes Korey's name makes me happy. It makes me proud," she said. "I don't have my son physically, but all of his dreams and wishes are being fulfilled in one way or another by somebody."
Community support
Kevin said he cannot stress the community feel around the fund enough. Joining him and his sister on the executive board are secretary LaTasha Mason, a childhood friend; Mary E. Sabol, a teacher of Korey's; and Phil Annarella, Korey's former high school football coach. Robert Smith, Korey's former teammate at Ohio State and with Minnesota, is also on the executive committee.
"By us going this route, we can still be a grassroots type of organization," Kevin said. "We don't have to have these big, exclusive fund-raisers where we have to charge hundreds of dollars a ticket. We can have a car wash, and people can participate in that."
"It's like another family," said Kimberly of the committee.
Kevin said he knows the fund has Korey's support because of the kind of giver Korey was.
"Korey did so much without broadcasting it," Kevin said. "I tell people, 'If you really want to honor my brother, do something nice for someone, and don't tell anybody about it.' "
As for Cathy, she said the fund will be successful because somebody is always willing to lend a helping hand even if it's just for an embrace.
"Sometimes, you don't even have to reach out," she said. "They grab us, and I get hugs all of the time. I love hugs. You can give me a hug whenever you want."
ksnyder@vindy.com