Mark and Toni Slessinger Presented with Special Award by Allstate Sugar Bowl

Allstate Sugar Bowl Release

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Allstate Sugar Bowl will present New Orleans Privateers men's basketball Head Coach Mark Slessinger and his wife, Toni with a Special Award at Saturday's Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Banquet.  Mark and Toni are being recognized for their advocacy of foster care and adoption.

The Slessinger's have dedicated themselves to being foster parents for young children in need. The goal of the foster system is to give a child a solid and safe environment while giving the birth parents the opportunity to work out any issues they may be going through. It is a noble cause, but also a heartbreaking one; if the system works as designed, the foster parents will return the baby for whom they have cared for many months.

In 2012, the Slessinger's took in their first foster child, a six-and-a-half month old girl. Ten months later, the birth family was ready, and the Slessinger's were able to return a child they had taken in as their own. Since the first child, the Slessinger's have welcomed two more foster children into their home; in February, they were able to officially adopt Nola Ann, while they hope to adopt the second as well, but will cherish any opportunity they have with the baby.  In a story on CBSSports.com, Coach Slessinger stated, "Don't make me and Toni out to be heroes - neither of us are. I'm just some regular common dude. I don't want it to be that I'm some savior."

The writer, Gregg Doyle, followed with a perfect summation: "Sorry. They are heroes. Foster parents, this small army of selfless soldiers, are heroic. They open their homes and their hearts to children from awful backgrounds, strangers with heartbreaking histories, and they spend weeks or months or maybe a lifetime trying to make it better. It's not a game-winning basket in the final seconds. It's not a conference or national championship. It's better than that."

Coach Slessinger and his wife Toni will receive their award Saturday night at the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Banquet.  The event will be held in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.