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Jerome Bettis Surprises Young Athletes With $64K For Sports Programs

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- He may be retired, but Pittsburgh Steeler great Jerome Bettis still has all the moves.

He and Steeler Jarvis Jones put some young athletes through the paces at Dick's Sporting Goods headquarters in Coraopolis. It's part of the company's "Sports Matter" project.

"We've got to keep these programs funded, give these kids an opportunity to participate in sports," he said. "It's so important to a child's development in becoming a young man or a young woman."

The best news: two area schools and a soccer club, suffering from financial shortfalls, received checks from Dick's totaling more than $64,000 for their sports programs.

According to coach Ronnell Heard of Imani Christian Academy, "What it means is I get to bring football back to Imani, which is an opportunity to provide my kids with another way out of a community that's not necessarily positive."

The students had to work for it. They raised money to match the Dick's Sporting Goods donations.

While the young athletes appreciate the funding, Coach Bill Bishop of Jubilee Christian School says the best part was meeting the Steelers.

"The whole day was a great, great surprise, but they were all taking selfies with Jerome and Jarvis, and I'm sure they'll be posting them on Twitter later," Bishop said.

Now that's something to "tweet" about.

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