"We were playing for someone else": Saginaw Sting raise money for injured Vassar soldier on Travis Mills night
By Kyle Austin | kyleaustin2@mlive.com
View full sizeJoseph Tobianski | MLive.com Stanley Stinger wears a Travis Mills t-shirt during a game at the Saginaw Sting Travis Mills Night in the Dow Event Center on Saturday evening. Saginaw Sting defeated Indianapolis Enforcers 62 to 0 for their first shutout.
— Nineteen players suited up for Saginaw, nineteen suited up for Indianapolis, and hundreds suited up for "Team Mills."
That was the name on the backs of the orange shirts at The Dow Event Center Saturday night, as Saginaw Sting fans honored Travis Mills, the Vassar soldier who lost both of his arms and legs fighting in Afghanistan.
Mills was the focus of Saturday night's Sting game,
a 62-0 win over the Indianapolis Enforcers.
"We were playing for someone else," Sting coach Fred Townsend said. "We weren't just playing for ourselves and for the Sting organization. We knew that we were playing for someone who sacrificed everything."
This is the second straight week the Sting have raised money for the Mills Family Fund. Last week, the Sting did their pass the helmet fundraiser as part of its local heroes night. That effort raised $3,100 on just a few days notice, an amount that Sting co-owner Rob Licht said left him "blown away."
"It wasn't like we announced it and made it known to the fans," Licht said. "We didn't tell them to go to the ATM last week and load up, but they came and they gave, and that's huge."
This week's game was originally scheduled to be played in Indianapolis. But when the Sting came up with the idea for an entire night dedicated to Mills, they asked that the location be moved to Saginaw. Indianapolis owner/coach K.C. Carter, who works in law enforcement, was happy to oblige.
View full sizePlayers run out on the field during half time during a game at the Saginaw Sting Travis Mills Night in the Dow Event Center on Saturday evening. Saginaw Sting defeated Indianapolis Enforcers 62 to 0 for their first shutout. To purchase this photo please call (989) 752-7171.
Saturday's game raised money and awareness for Mills in a multitude of ways:
* For every ticket sold, $3 was donated to the fund. Two dollars out of each ramp parking fee were also donated to the fund.
* All proceeds from the team's ball toss promotion were donated. The winner received a four-pack of Great Lakes Loons season tickets, donated by Ieuter Insurance Group, and 2013 Sting season tickets.
* The team did its "pass the helmet fundraiser once again, in which fans in the bleachers could make cash donations.
* Locally designed Travis Mills shirts were sold at a table in the concourse, and Sting staff members all wore them.
* One end zone had a yellow and camouflage ribbon painted in it, plus with a box with "T. Mills" written in it.
* Former Vassar teammates of Mills participated in the coin toss.
* Public address messages were made during breaks, announcing other Mills fundraiser events.
Licht said the team hopes money raised can help offset ancillary costs not otherwise covered by the army.
"His entire family has dropped everything they're doing, and they're down there right now," Licht said. "They're not making any paychecks, nobody's paying for them to fly down there, nobody's paying for them to stay down there. All of that comes into play."
View full sizeRebecca George of Saginaw Township, left, sells a t-shirt to Vern Gissendanner of Saginaw, right, before a game at the Saginaw Sting Travis Mills Night in the Dow Event Center on Saturday evening. Saginaw Sting defeated Indianapolis Enforcers 62 to 0 for their first shutout. To purchase this photo please call (989) 752-7171.
Among the volunteers selling shirts was Dave Pratt, a Vassar resident whose son, Erick, was good friends with Mills growing up.
Pratt remembers Mills as a teen who loved people and took an enthusiastic approach to his job at the Shop-Rite grocery store in Vassar.
"I don't know what his real job was, but he was the Wal-Mart greeter before there were Wal-Mart greeters," Pratt said. "He'd literally stand out front and greet people coming in. And if you didn't want your groceries carried out, too bad."
Saturday's game was an opportunity for Pratt and hundreds of others like him from around the area to do their part to give back.
"It's been absolutely awesome," Pratt said. "People are just looking for things that they can do for him, and not just Vassar but the surrounding area. It's just absolutely phenomenal, people wanting to know what they can do and willing to let you put jugs in their stores, or do whatever they can to help."