May 1, 2009

WATCH VIDEO SEGMENT

Boston College sophomores Biko Paris and Josh Southern recently played host to Jose, a 13-year-old boy from Worcester, Mass., as part of WBZ-TV's weekly Wednesday's Child feature.

The first Wednesday's Child segment was aired on WBZ-TV on October 7, 1981. That broadcast set in motion a landmark program. With Wednesday's Child, news anchor Jack Williams is successfully increasing public awareness of the needs of children waiting for adoptive families. These children are primarily school-aged children, children of color of all ages, sibling groups and children who face intellectual, physical or emotional challenges. The segment airs every Wednesday on WBZ News at 6 p.m.

Williams works closely with the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) in coordinating the program.

MARE contacted Boston College in March, asking if any basketball players would be willing to shoot baskets with Jose for this segment. Paris and Southern jumped at the opportunity and, on Tuesday, April 28, spent nearly an hour with Jose in Power Gym.

After filming the feature for the following night's newscast, Paris and Southern took Jose on a tour of the team locker room (where he met freshman Reggie Jackson). They also presented him with a BC baseball cap, a couple of basketball t-shirts and two BC basketball posters.

Read More about Jose on WBZTV.com