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DeVere Levelston’s Journey to Save his Mother Through Football
By: Andrew Klimek
Though the NIL deal just recently opened the door for college athletes to begin profiting off themselves, there is still extreme poverty amongst most of them. A study in 2019 found that over 80% of college athletes are currently living below the federal poverty level, which was one of the big reasons the NIL rule was created in the first place. The new rule makes social media presence a serious aspect of making money in the sports industry and athletes will learn this in years to come. Though rarely seen so far, the NIL rule also allows for players to raise money for charitable causes.
DeVere Levelston, a defensive lineman from SMU, was one of the first to use this rule to raise money for someone other than himself. DeVere’s life turned upside down when one of his mother’s kidneys failed. His mother, who was at every game, was forced to receive treatment 9 hours a day. DeVere has 3 younger siblings at home, two of whom are now working to support their mother. Instead of just focusing on football, DeVere decided to help and try to raise money for his mother and family. He created a GoFundMe page explaining his situation. This page was advertised through Instagram, word of mouth, news articles, and it got mentioned a few times on TV during games. To his overwhelming surprise he got immediate attention. His page raised $36,000 in its 10 months of being public.
DeVere did all of this with little to no help from social media. DeVere has a small social media presence with just under 3,000 Instagram followers, making his accomplishment even more impressive. Though a beautiful story, it is one that is far from over. DeVere’s mother has yet to find a new Kidney and their GoFundMe page hasn’t received a donation in months. DeVere did all of this with little to no help from social media. DeVere’s story is an emotional one that if properly documented could receive national attention. DeVere is a hardworking kid with a good heart just trying to help his mom. SMU fans are some the wealthiest in college football and would buy in to that story if they knew more about it. Alumni are also very connected to the school and I’m sure there would be significant donations if DeVere could only get his story to more SMU alumni and fans.
It is stories like this that will capture the hearts of sports fans all over the country. The love for athletes, college especially, grows every year. If this is a story that still needs sponsoring, money could be taken out of the fund and invested back in to making some sort of advertising for it. A lot of times short stories are the best for fundraising; something like a 3–5-minute explanation of the story. This could then be played at games, team social events, teammates social media. The list here is essentially endless. A one-time payment could have endless effects on his mom and families health. A video like this, as well as its branding, is something that can be accomplished at Brandstar. We have the studio, editors, and social presence to make something like DeVere’s story go the distance. A short well produced video is just an example, however, of how we at Brandstar could help in situations like this. At Brandstar, we see importance of social presence. Whether it be raising money for a cause, portraying a message, or simply building personal wealth, we are more than prepared to put all our resources into fulfilling the vision of our clients. Nothing here was meant to take away from any of the success that DeVere has seen with his fundraising but if he was able to get $36,000 with little campaigning, who knows where taking this story to next level would have gotten it?
DeVere Levelston
DeVere and his family
DeVere and his mother
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DeVere Levelston’s Journey to Save his Mother Through Football
By: Andrew Klimek
Though the NIL deal just recently opened the door for college athletes to begin profiting off themselves, there is still extreme poverty amongst most of them. A study in 2019 found that over 80% of college athletes are currently living below the federal poverty level, which was one of the big reasons the NIL rule was created in the first place. The new rule makes social media presence a serious aspect of making money in the sports industry and athletes will learn this in years to come. Though rarely seen so far, the NIL rule also allows for players to raise money for charitable causes.
DeVere Levelston, a defensive lineman from SMU, was one of the first to use this rule to raise money for someone other than himself. DeVere’s life turned upside down when one of his mother’s kidneys failed. His mother, who was at every game, was forced to receive treatment 9 hours a day. DeVere has 3 younger siblings at home, two of whom are now working to support their mother. Instead of just focusing on football, DeVere decided to help and try to raise money for his mother and family. He created a GoFundMe page explaining his situation. This page was advertised through Instagram, word of mouth, news articles, and it got mentioned a few times on TV during games. To his overwhelming surprise he got immediate attention. His page raised $36,000 in its 10 months of being public.
DeVere did all of this with little to no help from social media. DeVere has a small social media presence with just under 3,000 Instagram followers, making his accomplishment even more impressive. Though a beautiful story, it is one that is far from over. DeVere’s mother has yet to find a new Kidney and their GoFundMe page hasn’t received a donation in months. DeVere did all of this with little to no help from social media. DeVere’s story is an emotional one that if properly documented could receive national attention. DeVere is a hardworking kid with a good heart just trying to help his mom. SMU fans are some the wealthiest in college football and would buy in to that story if they knew more about it. Alumni are also very connected to the school and I’m sure there would be significant donations if DeVere could only get his story to more SMU alumni and fans.
It is stories like this that will capture the hearts of sports fans all over the country. The love for athletes, college especially, grows every year. If this is a story that still needs sponsoring, money could be taken out of the fund and invested back in to making some sort of advertising for it. A lot of times short stories are the best for fundraising; something like a 3–5-minute explanation of the story. This could then be played at games, team social events, teammates social media. The list here is essentially endless. A one-time payment could have endless effects on his mom and families health. A video like this, as well as its branding, is something that can be accomplished at Brandstar. We have the studio, editors, and social presence to make something like DeVere’s story go the distance. A short well produced video is just an example, however, of how we at Brandstar could help in situations like this. At Brandstar, we see importance of social presence. Whether it be raising money for a cause, portraying a message, or simply building personal wealth, we are more than prepared to put all our resources into fulfilling the vision of our clients. Nothing here was meant to take away from any of the success that DeVere has seen with his fundraising but if he was able to get $36,000 with little campaigning, who knows where taking this story to next level would have gotten it?
