Julie's Jewels Scholarship/Benefit

Julie's Jewels Scholarship/Benefit

Through this GoFundMe page, we hope to raise money for the Julie’s Jewels Scholarship/Benefit to honor our friend Julie Faul, who is suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Our primary goal is to raise money for a Julie’s Jewels scholarship to be awarded to a deserving Rebul Academy senior who has shown courage in the face of adversity or has overcome odds, just like Julie. Our second priority is to use the remaining funds – and ideally the majority of the money raised – to help Julie with her medical expenses and/or daily living expenses.

Julie’s Story

Julie Faul of Utica, Mississippi, was diagnosed with ALS 11 years ago after experiencing serious health complications while working as a computer technician at Hinds Community College. ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. ALS causes muscles to gradually weaken and waste away. Patients in the later stages of the disease may become totally paralyzed and eventually die.

If you know Julie, you know she’s a fighter and has been battling this debilitating disease with grace, determination and resolve. Along the way, she has become a passionate advocate for raising money for and awareness about ALS through the ALS Association Louisiana-Mississippi Chapter, and she has made it her mission to ensure that a cure is found for this dreadful disease. As part of her advocacy efforts, Julie participates yearly in the Walk to Defeat ALS in Jackson, recruiting friends, family members and former coworkers to participate and raise money. Each summer during ALS Awareness Night, she attends Mississippi Braves games to raise awareness about ALS, and she’s even thrown out the first pitch on several occasions with the help of her teenage daughter Sarah.

Julie is a 1990 graduate of Rebul Academy, a small private school in Learned, Mississippi. She was very involved in numerous extracurricular activities including serving as student body president and playing on the high school softball team. As a senior, Julie was inducted into the 1990 Rebul Academy Hall of Fame. Now, 27 years later, her daughter Sarah Drennan is a sophomore at Rebul. We felt it only fitting that we establish a scholarship for a Rebul Academy graduating senior in Julie’s honor.

Julie’s Jewels Scholarship/Benefit Softball Game
Saturday, July 22 at 1 p.m.
Gray Field, Learned, MS

Julie’s former softball coach, Mary Porter, and one of Mary’s former players, Gloria Blaylock Fisher, came up with the idea of having a Julie’s Jewels Scholarship/Benefit Softball Game. The game will be held on Saturday, July 22 at 1 p.m. at Gray Field in Learned. If you’re a former Rebul softball player, a lady in the community or friend of Julie’s – dust off your gloves, bring some BENGAY and get ready for some fun! We ask that each player make a minimum $10 donation either through this GoFundMe page or via a check made payable to Julie Faul, which you can bring with you to the softball game. If you plan to play, please indicate it on your donation (if made in advance) and give us your t-shirt size and a contact number or email address. You can also email Mary Porter at [email redacted] and give her this info.

The game will be totally for fun, with free substitution. Nothing serious, except the cause itself! Rebul alums Brandy Hupperich Renfroe will supply the jerseys, and Michael Gray will be providing meat for hamburgers, which will be sold during the game. 

Please help us spread the word by inviting former Rebul softball players, community members and friends to play. Keep in mind, you do not have to be a Rebul graduate to play. If you still have a glove and are brave enough to get out on the field, we would love to have you join us. Spectators are welcome, too!

Thanks for helping us honor our beloved Julie.