KU Women’s Hoops Spreads Holiday Cheer with Crimson and Blue Project
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s basketball looks forward to this day more than any other day of the season, not because the Jayhawks get to step away from the hardwood or endless hours of studying for finals, but instead get an opportunity to spread holiday cheer and share laughs with patients at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Head coach Brandon Schneider and the Jayhawks visited LMH on Monday, Dec. 14, as a part of the Crimson and Blue project.
Monday’s visit marked the 23rd year that Kansas Athletics has visited Lawrence Memorial Hospital, spending time with patients and delivering gifts as a part of the Crimson and Blue Holiday Project, which is organized through Kansas’ trademark licensing office.
“It’s a long-standing tradition between Kansas and Lawrence Memorial Hospital to give our players that opportunity to come visit some of the patients, spread holiday cheer and hopefully brighten up someone’s day,” said Schneider. “We ask a lot of our community and fanbase to come out and support us, so any opportunity we have to give back to a community that is very supportive of us, we’re always going to take advantage of that.”
The first, and most popular stop, is the delivery floor where the student-athletes get to hold newborn babies, more importantly teach them to wear Crimson and Blue. The Jayhawks split up into groups of four and made their way through all the floors, visiting with patients of all ages.
“It’s really special and I was looking forward to this a lot,” said freshman guard Kylee Kopatich. “To be able to give back and see their happy faces, it is the best feeling. Hopefully, we make them as happy as they can be and let them know we are here for them.”
Many of Kansas’ licensed vendors participated donating all kinds of merchandise including t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, pennants and team posters. The KU merchandise will be distributed and utilized throughout the year to several different local charitable organizations.
The trademark licensing program collects fees and royalties from manufacturers authorized to use KU’s trademark commercially. Royalties distributed from the program are used to fund student and student-athlete scholarships at KU.
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