RUSTON, La. – For the second straight year, Louisiana Tech football participated in the Maggie Lee for Good Day.
 
On Oct. 21, 2011, then-Shreveport mayor Cedric Glover officially declared Oct. 29 as "Maggie Lee for Good Day" to honor the life and memory of the late Maggie Lee Henson.
 
Henson was a vibrant 12-year old who died from traumatic brain injuries suffered in a bus crash on her way to First Baptist Shreveport's church youth camp on July 12, 2009.
 
Moved by the generous life and tragic death of Maggie Lee, over 18,000 people reported performing one single act of kindness in her honor on Oct. 29, 2009 – which would have been Maggie's 13th birthday. Over 10 years later, thousands of acts of kindness continue in her honor on Oct. 29. One such act was performed by the Louisiana Tech football team on Thursday.
 
Due to the COVID-19 virus, residents of Russ Place have been under lockdown for the last eight months with limited visitors. During the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak, only window visits were allowed with visitors staying outside to visit with residents through a window. Russ Place then transitioned to porch visits where residents could meet with their visitors outside while wearing a mask and being socially distanced. Currently, there is a designated room residents and visitors can meet while wearing masks and staying social distanced.
 
One current resident of Russ Place is former LA Tech assistant coach E.J. Lewis, who was with the program from 1963 to 1980.
 
Jennifer Holtz, wife of LA Tech head coach Skip Holtz, organized an event where LA Tech football players, cheerleaders, the Regal Blues and Champ could meet with Lewis and other Russ Place residents through window visits. After the visits, Champ, LA Tech cheerleaders and the Regal Blues performed a cheer in the parking lot for the residents.
 
Coach Lewis attends the same church as the Holtz family, but, due to COVID-19, they haven't had the opportunity to see each other for eight months.
 
"They're pretty much in isolation and we weren't built to be in isolation," J. Holtz said. "This day is to do an act of kindness and I've got these beautiful boys that I love like my own sons. It just made sense to put it all together."
 
Student-athletes including Aaron Allen, Ezekiel Barnett, Isaiah Graham, Griffin Hebert, Justin Henderson, Cee Jay Powell, Kody Russey, Israel Tucker, Milton Williams and Bee Jay Williamson went to the window one-by-one to introduce themselves and visit with Coach Lewis and other Russ Place residents.
 
"He still put smiles on people's faces," Henderson said. "Even though we can't come to them physically face-to-face, it just shows that you still can help in the community even with the coronavirus."
 
Hebert said the team wanted to be able to let Russ Place residents see some new faces after they have been stuck in the same routine for the past eight months. Though it was not a typical visit, it still had an impact on the residents and the student-athletes.
 
"It just goes to show you that you can still give back even with corona," Hebert said. "That's not stopping us. We just want to give back to the community that give so much to us."
 
J. Holtz was glad the team could do something to honor Maggie Lee and Coach Lewis.
 
"He is a legacy for Louisiana Tech athletics," J. Holtz said. "It was a way to honor him and to touch his life because he's touched ours. He's supported these players without them ever knowing it. So, for us to be able to bring football to him, since he can't come to football, it just was a no brainer."
 
According to the Maggie Lee for Good website, hundreds of thousands of acts of kindness have occurred in remembrance of Maggie Lee. Water wells dug in Africa, homes built in Haiti, food delivered to the poor in Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, New York and Caracas. Money has been raised for organ donation services, women's shelters, food pantries, animal shelters, and countless other non-profit organizations. On the 2019 Maggie Lee for Good Day, LA Tech football planted trees to help replace trees along West Alabama Ave that were lost or damaged in the April 2019 tornado.
 
Tech (3-3, 2-2 C-USA) returns home to host UAB (4-2, 2-0 C-USA) Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (CT).
 
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