Jan. 25, 2008
ST. LOUIS -
Illinois State quarterback Luke Drone was one of 10 student-athletes to receive the Missouri Valley Conference's Good Neighbor Award, as announced by league commissioner Doug Elgin.
Drone, a 2006 Gateway Football Conference First-Team All-Conference selection, promoted and participated in the American Red Cross Blood Drive for the past three years. He has also been involved with the Harvest of Hope Food Drive during his time at Illinois State, where he helped collect canned goods and non-perishable food items.
In 2007, Drone became the first Illinois State student-athlete to be named to the American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team, while later in the year, became the first representative from ISU to be a semifinalist for the prestigious Coach Wooden Citizenship Cup.
The Mt. Carmel, Ill., native also helped raise $200,000 in the Bloomington-Normal community for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Drone is actively involved in the Boys and Girls Club and has spent time building houses for underprivileged families in Juarez, Mexico. He has also provided service at the Dilkon Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona.
In an effort to honor model student-athletes, the Valley partnered with State Farm Insurance to create the award. In order to be eligible, student-athletes must be in good academic standing, demonstrate good citizenship through good sportsmanship and significant community service, and must participate in a sport, during the season of recognition. The Valley will recognize 10 student-athletes three times annually (fall, winter and spring), for a total of 30 honorees. Institutions select their Good Neighbor Award honorees.
Other honorees included Todd Reedy of Bradley, Kari Tanimoto of Creighton, Lauren Hoguta of Drake, Daniel Gibson of Evansville, Shae Fehribach of Indiana State, Carrie Vestal of Missouri State, Kristin Belzung of Northern Iowa, Erika Bartruff of Southern Illinois and Sara Lungren of Wichita State.
