McCamey has been there for these kids

For the past four years the glue that has cemented Mackey's efforts is McCamey, who she approached through a chance e-mail when McCamey was an Illini freshman.

After figuring out how to make contact, she popped the question. "I told him I taught in a high-poverty school and I was looking for someone to be a positive role model for these students," she said. "I want them to see the importance of hard work and what it takes to be successful. I asked if he'd be willing to communicate back and forth and he said, 'Sure, let me know what you want.'"

And that's how it started.

Tupper