Winn-Dixie donates 250 Gators football tickets to local families

As part of a regional campaign, Winn-Dixie donated 250 UF football tickets to seriously ill children and their parents Thursday.

At a ceremony held at the Ronald McDonald House in Gainesville, which provides temporary residence for the families of kids who receive medical treatment, Winn-Dixie employees cooked dinner for some of the families after they received their tickets.

The tickets are for the Nov. 12 home game against the University of South Carolina.

Dwight Pou and Kandice Tipton, who have been staying at the UF-affiliated facility for about a month as one of their sons receives treatment, said they have been to a UF football game only once before.

Joined by their 1-year-old daughter, Destiny, who was dressed in a Gators shirt, the pair said they were ecstatic to have another chance to see the Gators play in the Swamp.

“I got goose bumps the first time I heard,” Pou said. “I watch just about every game (on TV).”

In the past week, the supermarket chain has donated about 1,000 college football tickets to various charities that are partnered with universities across the southeast, including Florida State University, Clemson University, the University of Alabama and the University of South Carolina, said Eddie Garcia, a regional vice president of Winn-Dixie.

Sherry Houston, the executive director of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of North Central Florida, said the donation lifted the spirits of the families, who spend most of their time in hospital rooms caring for their children.

At the ceremony, UF mascots Albert and Alberta offered the kids fist bumps and helped cook dinner: spaghetti with garlic bread. And for dessert, they enjoyed a Gators-themed cake bearing the Ronald McDonald House logo.

“This is something really fun for them to do today,” Houston said.

Jordan Kress, a UF alumnus and an assistant store manager at the Winn-Dixie location on Southwest 16th Avenue, said although this is the first time Winn-Dixie has partnered with the charity, it certainly won’t be the last.

“We’re really excited to build a relationship with Ronald McDonald House,” the 26-year-old said. “We definitely plan on coming back.”

Eddie Garcia, a regional vice president of Winn-Dixie, hands Sherry Houston, the executive director of Ronald McDonald House Gainesville, 250 tickets to the last home game.