In the year since a shooting paralyzed Mississippi Valley State student Michael Archie from the waist down, he and his family have received support from all over the community.
But the Ole Miss chapter of Sigma Nu Fraternity is helping the Greenwood family in a way they never expected.
On March 26, the Sigma Nu members will face another fraternity in Charity Bowl XV, a benefit football game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford - and the proceeds will go to help Archie.
Archie's name was suggested by Chris Champion of Greenwood, a sophomore Sigma Nu at Ole Miss.
Archie's mother, Carol, said the Champion family had stayed in contact with her since the shooting and promised to help. "They said, 'We've got something we're working on for Michael,'" but they didn't say what it was, she recalled.
So when a member of the fraternity called her on Jan. 29 to tell her the news, she was thrilled.
"I was just thanking the Lord, because He is good," she said. "And even though you don't understand why a lot of things happen, for a long time, for all the last year and everything - you wish it just didn't have to be your child. But the Lord knows what He's doing, and we accept that."
Seth Little and Kirk Sims, philanthropy co-chairmen for the Ole Miss chapter of Sigma Nu, visited the Archie family in Greenwood this week to talk about the plans for the game. It will be played in full pads and will be called by NFL officials.
Little, a 21-year-old Ole Miss senior from Shreveport, La., said the Sigma Nu chapter tries to find someone with connections to the fraternity to help each year.
Champion, 19, the chapter's treasurer, told them a few weeks ago about Archie, a former Greenwood High School basketball star who was injured in a shooting at Club Focus in Itta Bena on Jan. 26, 2003.
Champion's family also sent the fraternity newspaper articles about Archie.
"We said, 'If you know anybody that's recently had an accident or anyone that might need some help, just let us know,'" Little said. "And then (Champion) told us the story and we decided in chapter the next week, 'That'd be perfect.'"
Champion, who has known Archie for years and played Little League sports with him, said it felt good to help.
"It's just extra special this year, knowing who the recipient is personally," he said.
Sigma Nu's opponent in the game should be known soon. The chapter sent letters to other fraternities on campus and some fraternities at other schools asking them to pledge money for the cause, and the one making the highest pledge will play, Little said.
Sims, a 20-year-old sophomore from Jackson, said sororities can enter cheerleading teams as well as members of a homecoming-style court that will be presented.
"That kind of gets more Ole Miss students involved and more people to the game," he said.
Champion said the fact that Archie is a cousin of former Ole Miss basketball player Gerald Glass generates more attention from people at the university.
"They'll recognize that name, and they'll get involved, with Gerald being the great basketball player that he was," he said.
Champion's mother, Jan, said the shooting was a grim reminder that violence can strike any time. Archie was an innocent bystander in the club when two other men exchanged gunfire.
"It hit home to us that it can happen to any of us," she said.
"This young man has been so strong through the whole thing. I don't think anybody has ever seen him complain," she said. "He just sees it as an opportunity."
She said efforts such as Charity Bowl also reflect well on fraternities in general.
"A lot of people want to only see the bad part of fraternities and the things that go on," she said. "But they can do so much good."
The first Charity Bowl was played in 1989 and raised almost $100,000 for Chucky Mullins, an Ole Miss football player who was paralyzed from an injury suffered in a game.
Mullins died suddenly two years later, but the games continued as benefits for others suffering paralyzing injuries. Charity Bowl has become the nation's largest collegiate philanthropic event, raising more than $750,000 from individual donations, ticket sales, T-shirt sales, advertising in the programs, and other sources.
Charity Bowl now draws crowds of 2,000 to 3,000 people. Two years ago, the event benefited the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, and Reeve, the actor best known for the "Superman" movies, attended the game.
