Local college football player quickly exceeds goal in raising funds for Harvey victims

As he prepares for his final season at Marshall, former Carolina Forest tight end Ryan Yurachek’s mind — and heart, for that matter — are in a far different place.

Though quick to tell anyone he is from Myrtle Beach, Yurachek’s current place of residence is first and foremost at this time, reeling due to the impact of Hurricane Harvey.

“As I am sure most of you know, the City of Houston and the surrounding areas have been hit with terrible flooding due to Hurricane Harvey,” he said in a prepared statement. “One of those areas that has been hit hard due to Harvey is the town of Friendswood where my family currently lives.

“Fortunately, my family was lucky enough to be in an area of town that did not get hit as hard for whatever reason. Due to that, them and our house are completely fine.”

But for those currently in need, Yurachek is lending a helping hand.

Yurachek launched a GoFundMe campaign purposed with providing relief for those in the town of more than 39,000 people.

“After getting off the phone with my family last night and finding out they had spent their entire day helping area residents with the flooding, including moving a retirement home and its residents to the high school and rescuing people from their home, I was bothered by the fact that I was not there to help,” he said in a prepared statement. “Being that we have begun preparations for our game Saturday and the airports are closed there is physically no way that I can help.

“I sat there and thought about ways to help and this is what I concluded was the best possible way.”

Initially, Yurachek set a goal of raising $1,000 for the campaign. It took less than a day to reach that mark, donors as of 8 p.m. Tuesday contributing more than $3,700 toward the effort.

According to the former Carolina Forest standout, all funds will be donated to the local Red Cross or distributed to families in the Friendswood, Texas.

“Anything can and will help,” he said.

In three years at Marshall, Yurachek has 89 catches for 864 yards and 16 touchdowns. He has caught a pass in 29 straight games, a streak dating back to Nov. 15, 2014.

For more information, visit https://www.gofundme.com/friendswood-tx-flooding-relief.

This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 8:42 PM with the headline "Local college football player quickly exceeds goal in raising funds for Harvey victims."