LOUISVILLE, KY — Trey Moses and his story about his struggles with mental health go all the way back to the eighth grade. The Ball State Men’s basketball alum and current overseas pro, has made it his mission to raise awareness for mental health and suicide prevention. Aug. 22, 2017 will be a day that Moses remembers forever when he lost his best friend Zach Hollywood to a suicide Moses' junior season while at Ball State. A day full of classes and basketball meetings with not hearing from Hollywood, who was also a member of the Ball State Men’s basketball team, made Moses go check on his friend at his apartment. When he got there he found his best friend had shot himself multiple times in the chest to take his own life.
From that moment one Moses has lived by the phrase ‘It’s okay not to be okay’ as he made it a mission to preach about his own struggles and losing his best friend.
Moses is the founder of his non-profit organization called 24 Reasons where they hold camps for people with autism, speak at events about the importance of mental health and Moses’ biggest project to date took place this past Saturday at his alma mater down in Louisville, KY at Eastern High School.
Moses invited celebrities from across the country and surrounding Louisville area to play in the “Be The Reason Celebrity Basketball Game” in which every single penny that was made, went back to his foundation to continue to spread their message. Around 500 people were in attendance to watch the likes of former Louisville Men’s Basketball legend Peyton Siva, David Johnson Jr., Akoy Agau just to name a few. Current UFC fighter Terrence McKinney and many got to play in a very competitive game.
Afterwards each celebrity had their jersey auctioned off while everyone was invited onto the court for pictures and autographs.
Moses took the time afterwards to talk about the day and was extremely grateful for what ended up being as big of a success as the event could have been.
“Today was such a blessing,” he said. “I really didn’t know what to expect when the day started, but to be able to put on an event like this in the city I love, in my old high school was something that made it even more special. The turnout was fantastic. To see 500 people come here and want to help our cause while watching some good basketball is special. Everyone that I talked with afterwards had fun too so I couldn’t be more thankful that it turned out like it did.”
Team Green led by Siva ended up winning the game 108-100 in which featured many high-octane plays that kept the crowd energized throughout.
Before the game, Moses shared his powerful story with everyone in attendance. Being able to share his message no matter where he goes is something that’s been important to him and his organization.
“If we just impacted one person here today then it was a success,” Moses said. “The message is what’s the most important thing that its okay to not be okay. I had a lot of people come up to me after the game and thanked me for sharing my story or they told me their own story of their struggles. It’s important to me to hear other peoples stories and what they’ve overcome. It’s was a day that I’m going to remember for quite awhile.”
It was the first annual event for Moses and his organization. The idea for the game got started back in January while Moses was still overseas playing professionally. He also made sure to give everyone involved the credit that they deserve for doing the work behind the scenes to make the event such a success.
“This wasn’t just me,” he said. “I have amazing board members who work tirelessly to get to where we are. The underlying work came when I was overseas so it was late nights for me and they were more than happy to come into meetings right after they got off work. This is all possible because I have such a great team around me and what I’m trying to do. Surrounding yourself with those kind of people is what’s most important.”
Moses also said that the plan is to hold the celebrity basketball game again next year.
If you would like to help support the 24 Reasons organization, you can visit 24reasons.org where Moses and his team sell all kinds of t-shirts, sweatshirts, and hats for sale.
Moses has seen it personally the effect that mental health can have on someone. It’s his mission to make sure everyone knows that there are people out there willing to help.
