Mud In My Cleats Provides Six Scholarships to Bensalem High School Athletes

On June 10th, the board members of Mud In My Cleats, a non-profit with a mission to support athletes, gave 6 deserving students scholarships.

Bensalem—A tiny but mighty charitable organization entitled Mud In My Cleats provided six scholarships to deserving athletes who will be graduating today at Bensalem High School's graduation ceremony. The annual scholarship breakfast was held in the Cotillion Room at Parx Casino on Tuesday morning, June 10th where President Ron Davis and Treasurer Marc Cohen distributed $500 scholarship checks to the following athletes: Ashlyn Merz, Chris Kelly, Devon Bell, Jahmir Chatman, Tejas Sasan and Vanessa Shay. The students were able to bring their families and friends to celebrate and enjoy a delicious breakfast sponsored by Parx Casino.

Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo attended with some of his staff members and provided an inspirational speech to the attendees about his history of growing up on a family farm in Bensalem and his love of the Bensalem community.

Guest Speaker, Sheila Murphy also provided some motivational messaging, with lessons from her storied career as an athlete, educator, coach, and athletic director. Sheila is in several hall of fames to include the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, The Bucks County Sports Hall of Fame and Temple University's Hall of Fame.

Geoffrey Per, Principal at Bensalem High School stated, "Mud in My Cleats is a fantastic organization that’s sole purpose is to give back to the communities that supported them during their NFL careers. Bensalem HS was honored to have 6 students receive a scholarship to help offset the cost of their college tuition. Our students enjoyed the retired NFL speakers, their wisdom and commitment to serving their communities was inspiring. They really stressed the importance of character, being kind, and giving back and our students and their families really enjoyed the message along with Parx Casino incredible hospitality in hosting the event."

Ron Davis closed the event with the moving song, "Lean on Me" which he sang a cappella, as the audience enthusiastically joined in! Ron later commented, "This scholarship event is always one of my favorite days of the year, and I am so happy to be part of this thriving community!"

Mud In My Cleats' board is made up of former NFL football players - Brad Quast, Robert Grupp, Ron Davis, Carl Petitti and Joseph Wilson. Additional board members include Marc Cohen and Morgan Bennyhoff.

Mud In My Cleats plans several events throughout the year to raise funding for the distribution of these scholarships. To support Mud In My Cleats in the mission, you can follow the organization on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/MudIn...