JayhawkSlant.com - Weis talks at charity event

August 30, 2012

Slant Staff

On Thursday night, Kansas football hosted a bbq on the hill to raise awareness for the charity "Hannah and Friends" which was founded by Charlie Weis and his wife Maura.

Weis on Hannah and Friends charity…

We have a daughter Hannah, who is 17 years old and is globally developmentally delayed and has been that way basically her whole life. When Hannah was a young age, Maura encouraged me to get involved with charity work with people with what we call different abilities. We started Hannah and Friends in 2003 and our goals were a lot lower when we first stated and because of the kindness and generosity of a lot people we have been able to do a lot more things than we thought we were capable of doing.

Weis on the turnout on the event…

Last time we checked it was somewhere between 175 and 200. When we started talking about it, if it gets too big then you and the coaches don't get a chance to mix and mingle. I think that number is the right number.

Weis on the bbq's purpose…

When we were coming here tonight we were talking with the department of special needs which is really highly reputable. They found a similar charity to us in Kansas City, Kansas that works with people with special needs in lower income brackets so because of this we will be able to give a nice donation to them.

"We think we will be able to give them 10 grand from this event."

Weis on other events for Hannah and Friends

Our big event is a big celebrity golf tournament. For many of the years it was in South Carolina and some of the years it was in South Bend. We are actually moving it to Prairie Band, which could be dangerous having all the boys come in from out of town and stay at the casino. There's going to be a lot of money trading hands one way or another.

Weis on the organization's future:

The more things we can do here the more people we can help. One thing you do when you come to a new area is you get the lay of the land. One thing we found is when you are coming into an area a lot of other charities could get sensitive and feel you are stepping on their toes and competing with them. We are not trying to compete with anyone. We are just trying to find out niche and help people with special needs. The more we are able to do the more we are able to help people.

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