T-L Photo/RICK THORP MACI CROZIER, looks through T-shirts she was selling at the Bellaire Dairy Queen last week, raising money for 2-month-old Paisley LaRoche, who’s undergoing treatment for a rare heart condition.

BELLAIRE — As a cheerleader for the Bellaire High School football team, Maci Crozier is entrusted with helping lift the spirits of the Big Reds gridders and their fans on Fridays and Saturdays in the fall.

This past Tuesday night, the bubbly senior was helping lift the spirits of a fellow classmate and friend by raising money to aid their precious newborn, who’s suffering from a rare heart condition.

Meet the Team Night is always a popular event in the All-American Town. It’s a time for the community to come together at Nelson Field and, not only say hello to members of Bellaire’s fall sports teams, but usher in a new school year.

The gathering also served as a precursor for another gathering, one that held special meaning for Crozier, a standout student and basketball player who’s just as eager to do good off the field of play as she is on it.

Crozier began her evening on the Nelson Field oval as the Big Reds faithful welcomed members of the football, cross country and volleyball teams, along with the cheering squad and marching band. Then, after the nearly hour-long fete concluded, Crozier raced across town to the Dairy Queen to fulfill her second mission of the evening.

The DQ is owned by Maci’s parents, Bill and Tammy, and Maci has worked there for a while. So, moments after the Meet the Team, she entered the popular establishment, raced to the back and traded in her cheering outfit for a casual DQ one as quick as Clark Kent trades in a suit and tie for tights and a cape.

It wasn’t long before she was joined by hundreds of her closest friends as the business was a hub of fundraisers, of sorts, for Paisley LaRoche, infant daughter of Cole LaRoche and Alexis Bell.

For two hours, Dairy Queen donated 20 percent of its sales to aid the 2-month old. But Crozier wanted to do more. So, she decided to round upsome DQ T-shirts and sell them for $5 a pop.

“I just knew it was the right thing to do,” she said, as the business filled to the rafters with customers — inside and out.

“I knew there was something else we could do. And, being involved with Dairy Queen, I thought this would be pretty simple to put together.”

LaRoche and Crozier are both members of the Bellaire High Class of 2019 and Bell, while already graduated, is a friend and former cheerleader, too. So, Crozier felt it important to do something to help.

“I’ll be there for them whenever they need it,” she said.

Crozier stood guard with her T-shirts as customers placed orders then waited as the DQ staff worked furiously to place them in a timely fashion.

“I walked in here and was like, ‘Oh, my goodness,'” Crozier said upon seeing the amount of folks who responded to her plea at Meet the Team to attend. “This was definitely a good idea.”

Crozier’s enthusiasm sparked others to join the effort. Billy Marinacci, a Bellaire grad who works with Cole’s dad, John, at Belmont County Children’s Services, was seated at a booth just inside the door. There, he was selling raffle tickets for a board of $500 in gift cards, along with T-shirts made donated by employees of the BCCS. The shirt has “Team Paisley” on the front with a heart on it that has the No. 11 inside it — Cole’s number with the Big Reds.

“We just all took it upon ourselves to make the shirts,” he said. “All the employees chipped in and bought the gift cards. One-hundred percent of the proceeds go to Paisley’s family.”

Tickets for the raffle, as well as orders for T-shirts are still being accepted. Information on both can be obtained by calling Marinacci at (740) 232-4990. As of Wednesday, he said nearly $500 had been raised.

As for the DQ fundraiser, Crozier reported $541.89 had been raised. She was happy with the result and hopes to do more for the family in the future.

LaRoche certainly appreciated the gesture.

“She is the definition of a true friend!,” he said via Twitter upon learning of what she’d done. “You don’t have many friends like that anymore. Thank you so much!”

If you know of someone in sports in the Ohio Valley whom I could feature as an Ohio Valley Unsung Hero, drop me a line at rthorp@timesleaderonline.com or via Twitter @RickThorp1