Akron, OH: When Jamie Neese looks at her son Trenton, she sees the same fierce focus she remembers in his father.
Trenton has been in sports since he was four, and at 10, he’s already training with big goals. Jamie says she wants him to be the world’s strongest man.
The family’s struggles began with a message Jamie still carries with her. On May 3, 2021, Kevin, Trenton’s father, texted Jamie asking her to “give Trenton a hug and kiss from me.”
That would be the last time anyone heard from him. Kevin died by suicide the same day. Trenton had just lost his first tooth; Jamie placed that tooth in Kevin’s casket so the boy would have a memory of the moment they missed sharing together.
After that loss came more pressure. While Jamie was away in North Carolina, caring for a cousin who was dying, she discovered her husband’s infidelity through home camera footage.
The betrayal led to divorce and pushed Jamie into one of the hardest fights of her life: keeping a roof over their heads.
For a time, the two of them lived in a shelter. Jamie gave up a car so she could keep working and eventually became a general manager, a job she took to keep food on the table and Trenton in the programs that matter to him.
Through all of it, Trenton’s football coach has been a steady presence. The coach stepped in with encouragement, offered rides when he could, and invested time in a kid who found direction on the field.
Help the Child fulfill his dream
Football has been more than a pastime; it’s been the anchor that kept Trenton moving forward after losing his father.
Jamie’s request is practical and plain: she needs help keeping Trenton active and engaged now that the season’s over.
Transportation is the immediate problem; without a car, getting to practices, training sessions, or any off-site programs is a challenge.
However, there are other needs, too: equipment, registration fees, occasional one-off expenses, and the simple stability of a safe place to sleep and study.
“I just want to be able to provide a better life for my son,” Jamie says. “With a little help, we can overcome any obstacle.”
She’s asking for more than money. She wants connections: people who can point her to local youth programs, transportation resources, volunteer drivers, mentorship, second-hand equipment, or any community help that keeps a 10-year-old in the programs that keep him on track.
Small donations matter. Jamie notes that even a $5 gift can help cover gas, snacks, or a registration fee when pooled with others.
But the support she’s asking for is broader: prayers, guidance, and local goodwill.
Practical ways to help include: offering rides to and from practice, donating gently used training gear, and sponsoring a short-term placement in a youth training program.
It will help Jamie connect with local nonprofits or churches that provide emergency housing or transportation vouchers, or volunteer as a mentor.
Jamie’s path hasn’t been easy; she also grew up raising her siblings through the court and has long been the family’s rock.
Now she’s asking her community to be part of that strength. She’s grateful to everyone who has already helped and says the kindness of strangers and the help from Trenton’s coach have been lifesaving in more ways than one.
You can help her through the Fundraiser where Jamie shared her story, reach out to Trenton’s coach through the local league, or contact Akron-area social services.
“With a little help, we can overcome any obstacle,” she says. For a 10-year-old still learning how to dream, that help could be everything.
