Dr. Oz named Blue-Gold honorary chair

Dr. Mehmet Oz has been announced as this year’s honorary game chair for the 57th Annual DFRC Blue-Gold All-Star Football Game by the leadership of the All-Star committee.

Before he became an internationally recognized physician and popular television personality, Dr. Oz was a football player representing Wilmington’s Tower Hill School in the 23rd Annual DFRC Blue-Gold All-Star Football Game in 1978.

Just a few years earlier, DFRC had pioneered the Hand-In-Hand Buddy Program for Blue-Gold All-Star Football Game participants. Through this program, high school seniors from across Delaware are offered the opportunity to be matched with a Buddy, a child with an intellectual disability, as they share activities during the months leading up to game day each year. This program was developed to provide an understanding and awareness of persons with intellectual disabilities, not only among Blue-Gold participants and their families, but also the participants’ classmates and friends.

Dr. Oz participated in the Hand-in-Hand Program in 1978, and early last year, he reached out to DFRC in an effort to re-establish contact with his buddy. With a little research, the office staff was able to locate Dr. Oz’s buddy, reach out to the buddy’s parents, and help initiate a very memorable reunion between the two.

This reunion was highlighted in an interview conducted with Dr. Oz and published in last year’s DFRC Alumni, Family and Friends Newsletter.

The 57th Annual DFRC Blue-Gold All-Star Football Game will be played Saturday, June 23, at Delaware Stadium in Newark. Tickets for the game are available from Lions Club members across Delaware, online at www.dfrcfoundation.org, or by calling DFRC at 302-454-2730.

Grotto Pizza is the ticket sponsor for the 57th Annual DFRC Blue-Gold All-Star Football Game.