Rebels Rise To Help

Byrnes Players Rally In Wake Of Tragedy

Joshua Kyefero knew he was helping, as soon as he saw the text. He already knew the pain involved, and he just wanted to be there for people who needed him.

Even though they’d never met.

Kyefero was one of a group of Byrnes football players who, when a local family had to bury a loved one and didn’t have enough people to serve as pallbearers, stepped in to fill the need.

It’s something that Kyefero sadly has some experience in.

“The first thing that came to my mind was my brother and my sister,” he said. “I was a pallbearer for both of them. I had to carry their caskets when they passed away. My sister passed away here, and I had to help bring her all the way to Detroit. When we got the call, the first thing I did was to go to Coach (Reggie) Shaw and say ‘sign me up’.”

The call was actually a text, and was first received by Heath Atkins on the team’s SportsYou messaging app.

“There was a post about a family needing pallbearers for a funeral,” Atkins said. “I texted Coach Shaw that I’d be fine to do it if we still had the opportunity. The family was super nice, just very welcoming. We helped with the church and graveside services.”

The group included Atkins, Kyefero, Duce Nodine, Jack Bailey, Sully Carver, and Cam Johnson. At the heart of their willingness to help is a desire to serve their community.

“I just thought about my family, and how it would be if we didn’t have anybody,” Nodine said. “I’d want somebody in the community to come help. I’m glad we were able to do it.”

Bailey agreed, and said even though the matter was a difficult one, the Rebels were happy to help.

“It’s not easy, but if you put yourself in their shoes, you’d feel the same way,” he said. “I know I’d want somebody to help my family. I feel like we represented Byrnes well.”

“It was a good feeling,” Carver said. “It was good to be able to give back to the community.”

Kyefero said it was simply a matter of helping the family get through one of their toughest days.

“Coach has told us before, and other people have told me, sometimes you have to put yourself last,” he said. “Sometimes, you have to make sure that your first priority is that others are being taken care of.”

Time after time in the past two weeks, as the aftermath of Hurricane Helene threw much of the Upstate into chaos, the Rebels have lived that lesson. Want some examples? There are plenty.

Elijah Clark went to the middle of Spartanburg to help remove debris in Converse Heights, one of the areas in the city hardest hit by downed trees and power lines.

“It made me change the way I saw things,” Clark said. “I didn’t have power or internet, but it wasn’t anything like as bad as what I saw there. I helped through that first weekend, and I’ll keep on helping on the weekends.”

Jackson Buckley went to the Spartanburg Soup Kitchen, where he helped out and delivered meals to those without power. He said it made him grateful to have ready access to good meals, and to be open to the opportunities around him. Cam McDowell also helped serve food, assisting in passing out 100 meals with Lifesong Church. He said it was good to be able to give back.

Crew Coons assisted the ministry Breaking Bread for Jesus. The group distributed more than 400 meals.

“It was eye-opening for me,” Coons said. “Just helping people who were without was a great feeling, but I learned that I have to be grateful in life. Sometimes I can be greedy and take things for granted, but I have to remember that not everybody has it as good as me, and I’ve got to give back to the community when I can.”

Cole Searfoss and Malachi Nelson were among a group who drove to Asheville, near the middle of the worst of the storm, to help with recovery efforts.

“I went with a couple of buds to help some people out,” Searfoss said simply. “We cut down some trees, help clear some roads. It looked like something you’d see out of a movie up there. Everything is ripped up. We were just trying to go up there and help others if we can.”

Nelson said the scene just an hour up the road was something beyond comprehension.

“It’s awful,” he said. “Pictures can’t describe it. A lot of those people are without anything, and it’s hard to get supplies in and out. They just needed people to show up.”

Weston Rice and his family accompanied other families from their church, serving meals and water to those without. And Darrion Griffin helped locally, cutting trees and helping to free people from their houses.

“There were people with their whole houses blocked off completely,” he said. “It was way worse and they were way less fortunate than some of us over here. I was happy to help. I just love going out in the community and showing people that there are people who care about them.”

Showing people that they care. That’s something that lets Shaw know what he’s trying to teach the Rebels is being taken to heart.

“I’m more than proud,” Shaw said. “We spend a lot of time talking about serving others. To see them take their own initiative and put the things we talk about into action is special. It’s one thing when I sign us up for work days. We serve at the Soup Kitchen once a month in the offseason. We’ve been working with a group called Home Works, and we re-do four or so houses a year for the less fortunate. But to see them take it upon themselves to do something, that’s when you know it’s taking.”

Shaw said the team’s response during the storm’s aftermath has been a blessing.

“I’ve been blown away,” he said. “I would reach out daily to them to ask what they needed, and instead they’re bringing me other people who needed things. I’m just beyond proud. That’s the kind of culture we’ve been trying to build, going out and putting others first and serving. We have a saying around here: don’t talk about it, be about it. These guys are living that.”