Sometimes it’s about more than a game and on Friday night when Straughn plays host to Pleasant Home, both schools will come together to help raise money for a local charity group called, “Forever Reins”.

In between the varsity girls and varsity boys game, there will be a short presentation about the event and they will “Pass the Bucket” around for donations for Forever Reins.

“It kind of all started my first year at Straughn,” Straughn head basketball coach Bradley Stephens said. “I hooked up with the guy who was the coach at Spanish Fort and he had this event called, ‘Shoot to Change’. It’s about acceptance of every kid.”

After that first year, Stephens said the event has continued to grow.

“It started that night and it has turned into what it is,” Stephens said. “We have two ladies (Lori Kinsaul and Allison Thomasson) who run a group called Forever Reins. It gives kids with disabilities the opportunity to learn about and ride horses. It’s little things like that that we often take for granted.”

Stephens said he hopes the community will come out and show their support.

“I want my basketball teams to be a part of things like this,” Stephens said. “This is bigger than the game of basketball. Both schools have really come together to make this happen. We picked this game because it’s a great community game. This is not just a Straughn thing. Forever Reins is open to any child with a disability. Come on out and open your hearts up to Forever Reins. It’s for a good cause and you will get to watch some good basketball.”

All proceeds from “Pass the Bucket” will go to the cost of running Forever Reins.

“There is a lot of money that it takes to run Forever Reins,” Stephens said. “This is just something to try and offset some of those cost. They do an amazing job and they offer this kids something that they probably wouldn’t get to experience without Forever Reins.”

There will be four games played on Friday night beginning with the junior varsity girls at 3:30 p.m.