An opportunity to make a difference

Appalachian State University head football coach Jerry Moore has seen a number of difference makers during his long tenure on the sidelines with the Mountaineers.

Monday night, he implored those attending the Caldwell Pregnancy Care Center banquet to make a difference in the lives of needy mothers and their children.

Moore shared his faith in God, spoke of his strong Christian beliefs and asked that people do their part to assist the Pregnancy Care Center in its ministry to women facing the circumstances surrounding pregnancy.

“Won't it mean something one day to have someone come up to you and say, ‘I'm here because of you. You changed my life,'” Moore said to the huge turnout at the J.E. Broyhill Civic Center. “You have an opportunity here tonight to change lives, starting here in Caldwell County.”

Moore's address to the crowd was just part of the banquet, which featured a silent auction, a live auction of signed ASU footballs, music by the Hayes Family and a testimonial by Johnna Main, a client of the center.

Main was 34 years old when she became pregnant with her second child. A single mother, she quit school and had a difficult pregnancy. But she found the support she needed from the Caldwell Pregnancy Care Center, a non-profit organization that has been ministering to the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of women and their families in Caldwell County for the last 17 years.

“I want to let you know what a blessing Caldwell Pregnancy Care Center has been for me,” Main said. “(The staff) listened, helped and prayed for me, and I earned vouchers to get supplies I needed for my baby. Being a single parent, that was a financial blessing. They helped me realize God had a purpose for my pregnancy. It's hard being a mother to a 14-year-old and a 1-year-old. But every child is a gift and a blessing from our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Before dinner, Moore spent a good portion of the evening signing ASU footballs, posters, pictures, T-shirts and copies of the September 2007 Sports Illustrated with ASU's Dexter Jackson gracing the cover after the Mountaineers' monumental upset of national powerhouse Michigan.

But he told the crowd the evening was about more than those collector's items.

“We're here for a special purpose,” Moore said. “There's an urgency about what we're here for. It's a fund-raiser. We're here for a great cause, a cause a lot of people don't understand, and it's about more than T-shirts or Sports Illustrateds.

“We've got a saying at our place (the Appalachian State campus in Boone). Do more than is expected. It's worked so far. So, set yourselves a goal and do a little more than is expected.”

Moore's Mountaineers certainly have done that on the football field the last three years, posting a 39-6 record and winning three consecutive Division I Football Championship Series national titles.

While those difference makers on the field have allowed ASU to have tremendous success under Moore, who is 167-70 and has guided the Mountaineers to six of their eight Southern Conference titles in 19 years at the helm, he is quick to give God credit for all his successes and those of his teams. He even spoke of going through difficult times to experience the good in life, citing examples from his personal life as well as his coaching career.

“Some of the tough things we go through are the best learning experiences in life,” said Moore, 194-118-2 in 26 years as a college football coach. “Sometimes you have to through the fire; you have to be tested. This (banquet) is about the lives of young people, the lives of babies. I challenge you to make the funds available to do the right things, and we don't get many opportunities to do the right thing. God has given everyone in here certain talents to use. What are you going to choose to do with them?”

Pregnancy Care Center Executive Director Fran Propst continued the theme of recognizing champions. In explaining that the services provided to women by the center are free of charge to them, Propst explained the organization's goals.

“We are working with young women, helping them become good parents,” she said. “If a young woman comes to the Caldwell Pregnancy Care Center, she will heard about Jesus Christ. There's not anything we can do to change them, but Jesus Christ can. What we do is made possible by you. We thank you for supporting us.”

Propst went on to recognize volunteers, board members and staff members of the center, acknowledging their contributions and referring to them as “champions for God.”

“These people may have looked ordinary to you, but what you see are champions,” Propst said. “God took them out of their comfort zones, and he is using them in a mighty way in Caldwell County.”

Printer Friendly Version

E-mail this story to friend