{"id":34701,"date":"2024-09-04T16:18:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T16:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/celebrities-help-sponsor-underfunded-olympians\/"},"modified":"2024-09-04T16:18:00","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T16:18:00","slug":"celebrities-help-sponsor-underfunded-olympians","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/celebrities-help-sponsor-underfunded-olympians\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrities Help Sponsor Underfunded Olympians"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At a moment when Veronica Fraley should&rsquo;ve been focused only on the task ahead of her, instead she was preoccupied with issues thousands of miles away.<\/p>\n\n<p>Fraley wrote on X, &ldquo;I compete in the Olympic Games TOMORROW, and can&rsquo;t even pay my rent.&rdquo; Fraley was a graduate student at Vanderbilt University who&rsquo;d recently set a school record in the discus event. &ldquo;My school only sent about 75% of my rent while they pay football players (who haven&rsquo;t won anything) enough to buy new cars and houses.&rdquo;<\/p>\n\n<p>Fraley&rsquo;s post caught the attention of Flavor Flav, co-founder of the legendary hip-hop group Public Enemy. Flav had became an Olympic booster and enthusiast for the women&rsquo;s water polo team after he found out how much they&rsquo;d achieved and the economic hardships they had to overcome. Flav told NPR:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>When the women aren&#39;t in the water playing water polo and everything, you know, they&#39;re home, working active jobs &#8211; one, two and three jobs. These girls are out here busting their butt to make the United States look good. So, when they&#39;re out here playing and practicing, it takes them away from their work. So, I said to myself, why not step in and try to help these girls out?<\/p>\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>That resulted in Flav committing to a five-year sponsorship agreement with USA Water Polo, making undisclosed financial donations as well as several high-profile appearances at events and using his social media platform to promote the team.<\/p>\n\n<p>So, when Flav saw Fraley&rsquo;s post, he was already primed to help. &ldquo;I gotchu,&rdquo; Flav responded on X. &ldquo;DM me and I&rsquo;ll send payment TODAY so you don&rsquo;t have to worry bout it TOMORROW &hellip; and imma be rooting for ya tomorrow LETZ GO!!!&rdquo;<\/p>\n\n<p>Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of the website Reddit and husband to tennis legend Serena Williams, quickly jumped into the thread. After offering to split the rent, Ohanian did much more, sending more than $7,000 via Cash App.<\/p>\n\n<p>&ldquo;This is the power of community,&rdquo; said Flav in a responding tweet afterwards. &ldquo;Now she can focus on getting that hardware.&rdquo;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3483,3548,3552,3644,3645,3716,3991,4043,4053,4057,4076,4140,4142,4488,4546,4964,5005,5012,5066,5218],"tax_ctp_topics":[384,395,401],"class_list":["post-34701","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-benevolence","tax_ctp_tags-caring","tax_ctp_tags-celebrities","tax_ctp_tags-community","tax_ctp_tags-community-impact","tax_ctp_tags-crisis","tax_ctp_tags-finances","tax_ctp_tags-generosity","tax_ctp_tags-gifts","tax_ctp_tags-giving","tax_ctp_tags-good-deeds","tax_ctp_tags-help","tax_ctp_tags-helplessness","tax_ctp_tags-money","tax_ctp_tags-news-that-illustrates","tax_ctp_tags-sharing","tax_ctp_tags-social-action","tax_ctp_tags-social-media","tax_ctp_tags-sports","tax_ctp_tags-unselfishness"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Celebrities Help Sponsor Underfunded Olympians - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/celebrities-help-sponsor-underfunded-olympians\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Celebrities Help Sponsor Underfunded Olympians - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At a moment when Veronica Fraley should&rsquo;ve been focused only on the task ahead of her, instead she was preoccupied with issues thousands of miles away. Fraley wrote on X, &ldquo;I compete in the Olympic Games TOMORROW, and can&rsquo;t even pay my rent.&rdquo; Fraley was a graduate student at Vanderbilt University who&rsquo;d recently set a Read more...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/celebrities-help-sponsor-underfunded-olympians\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/ogimage.png?resize=1200,628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CTpastors\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/celebrities-help-sponsor-underfunded-olympians\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/celebrities-help-sponsor-underfunded-olympians\/\",\"name\":\"Celebrities Help Sponsor Underfunded Olympians - CT Pastors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-04T16:18:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-04T16:18:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/celebrities-help-sponsor-underfunded-olympians\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/celebrities-help-sponsor-underfunded-olympians\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/celebrities-help-sponsor-underfunded-olympians\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Celebrities Help Sponsor Underfunded Olympians\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"name\":\"CT Pastors\",\"description\":\"Timeless wisdom for pastors with forward-thinking solutions\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Christianity Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/08\/logo_ctpastors_black.svg\",\"caption\":\"Christianity Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CTPastors\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CTpastors\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Celebrities Help Sponsor Underfunded Olympians - CT Pastors","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/celebrities-help-sponsor-underfunded-olympians\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Celebrities Help Sponsor Underfunded Olympians - CT Pastors","og_description":"At a moment when Veronica Fraley should&rsquo;ve been focused only on the task ahead of her, instead she was preoccupied with issues thousands of miles away. 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