CAVS FOR LIFE SPOTLIGHT
CHRIS LONG
In 2004, Chris Long was a first year at UVa, wondering if he would be able to cut it as a football player
in the ACC. He had no idea that 11 years later he would be in his eighth season with the St. Louis Rams
and leading the charge to raise money and awareness to help provide clean water for thousands of people
in the Tanzania area.
Rewind to 2013 when Long climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. What was originally a "check
it off the bucket list climb," Long's visit to Tanzania ended up becoming something much bigger. "I
loved the trip and the climb, it was so rewarding. But I thought to myself, there are so many people that
come here to visit from Europe, the United States and other places that have so much more than the
people who live here. Tanzanians are dealing with issues you just don't see in this country, there was
a level of poverty I had never seen before," Long described. Sometime after returning from his trip,
Long was working on another initiative that put him in touch with Worldserve International, a 501c3
Chris Long with Tanzanians who benefit from the Waterboys initiative.