Good works from the gridiron / LJWorld.com

Archive for Saturday, October 24, 2009

Lawrence High football players, from left, Dom Reiske, senior; Taylor Coleman, senior, and Darrin Sorem, junior, have a laugh over breakfast before school at Cornerstone Southern Baptist Church, 802 W. 22nd St. Terrace. Each game day, team members meet for breakfast at the church and bring in donations for the food pantry.

By Sarah Henning

October 24, 2009

Photo by Nick Krug

A collection of donations.

Photo by Nick Krug

Lawrence High wide receiver Zachary Bradford, sophomore gets a helping of food from his mother Trish Bradford, who volunteers to help serve the team Friday, Oct. 9, 2009 at Cornerstone Southern Baptist Church, 802 W. 22nd Street.

Food and football often go hand-in-hand. Players eat truckloads before and after games, and spectators master the art of cheering with a hot dog in hand.

The grub and gridiron made another connection this fall when an alert mom realized the boys suiting up for the Lawrence High football team could help others in the community, too.

Every Friday during the high school football season, the 65 or so boys load up on breakfast at Cornerstone Southern Baptist Church, 802 W. 22nd St. Terrace, before school. They’ve been using the church’s building for team breakfasts for years, and this year they also began filling shelves of the church’s food pantry.

So far, the team has brought in more than 700 items since the season began Sept. 4, and parent Mark Reiske, who organizes the breakfasts, says the kids hope to hit 1,000 items by the team’s final game Friday.

“This is a great thing for us to do. We don’t really have a lot of spare time between school, football and jobs, and this is something everyone can participate in,” says LHS junior Chris Gaston. “It has taught me that it’s not hard to help other people out. A can of food here and there really adds up.”

The team’s donations began with a food-heavy occasion, too — a bake sale.

Lisa Gaston, Chris’ mother, stopped by the fundraiser this summer at Cornerstone on a whim. Since the last football season ended, the church began putting a lot of serious effort into its food pantry, which now helps between 20 to 30 people a month, according to pantry director Carol Belzer.

Lisa Gaston thought the pantry might provide a valuable opportunity for the student-athletes to give back to both the church and the community.

“They’ve allowed the team to eat pre-game breakfasts there for many, many years and been so kind to us,” Lisa Gaston says of the church. “So when we found out that they have this food pantry that they’ve started, it seemed like a natural fit for a community service project for the boys as well as helping this church out, returning the favor to them.”

The church’s food pantry had been around for years, but it’s just been since January that the church has really revved up operations. The changes included food drives, vouchers for fresh food at Checkers and adding hours for walk-in service rather than just operating on an as-needed basis. Now, its doors are open every Monday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the pantry is staffed with church members intent on helping those in the community who may be having trouble making ends meet.

“They’re really blessing us, and we’re able to turn that around and bless some other people’s lives,” the Rev. Gary O’Flannagan says. “This is just a great way to reach out.”

It is an understatement to say that the football team has merely helped in this effort. Belzer estimates that the team’s donations have tripled the pantry’s inventory.

“I thought they’d do it at first, and then it would kind of drop off, but it actually increased. So I think they were enthused about doing it, too,” Belzer says. “These kids are just such winners, I just can’t emphasize that enough, how much we’ve appreciated what they’ve done.”

The team’s coach, Dirk Wedd, couldn’t be happier with how helpful his Lions have been.

“Its a way for our players to learn some valuable qualities of life,” Wedd says. “Giving back to the community is very important. Learning to share and care for others more needing are all values they can carry on in life. A positive influence on our community is part of our responsibility as Lawrence High Football players.”

Discussion

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24 October 2009
at 7:41 a.m.

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waswade (Anonymous) says…

Winning and loosing matter not when the team takes care of the community. It's A Great Day to be a Lion!!!
24 October 2009
at 9:14 a.m.

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ljwreader64 (Anonymous) says…

Great work by the LHS mother to recognize an opportunity to give back and then to follow through with a plan. The LHS players are fortunate to have a facility so close to LHS that is willing to open it up for team breakfasts. The church not only provides a space but it has become clear to me they provide the team another time and place to develop as a team. Thank you to the church and to the LHS parents who make this a great way to start each Friday!
24 October 2009
at 6:01 p.m.

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Seamus (Anonymous) says…

So if a jock does some charity work it's worthy of a spot in the LJW? One wonders how anything ever was accomplished before our football heroes stepped up to the plate.
24 October 2009
at 9:20 p.m.

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Pywacket (Anonymous) says…

To look at it from another angle:

So if some community-spirited young people make generous contributions to a food pantry, their giving is worthless and their efforts should be scorned if they happen to be football players (or basketball, soccer, or tennis players, a chess team, a cheer squad, band, etc)???

What a nasty, withered, sour little man you must be, Seamus.

With so many professional (and some college-level) sports figures being in the news for selfish, illegal, or otherwise negative acts, one would think everyone would applaud young players who are doing the right thing, displaying good values, and learning to put their sport into perspective by helping meet the basic needs of others. One would think that the boys' good-hearted giving and the guidance of their families would be a source of community pride.

But, noooooooo. Seamus is here to pi$$ on this parade.

News for Seamus: sorry, pal, you didn't test the wind and your “effort” is all over your own face.

It's a good day to be a Lion!
24 October 2009
at 10:53 p.m.

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Seamus (Anonymous) says…

I must have hit a nerve with pywacket. Somehow you sports fans always seem to miss the point, which is: a lot of kids collect canned foods, yet most do so anonymously. But I guess once sports heroes are involved then we are supposed to pretend to be grateful.
25 October 2009
at 1:08 p.m.

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Pywacket (Anonymous) says…

Very ironic, dipsquat, since I'm always railing against our society's obsession with sports and I personally HATE football. Will not stick around where it's being watched. When my son was on drumline in the LHS marching band, I would always leave after the band's halftime performance since I didn't care to watch the football.

My point is—again—if football players (or any athletes) are doing something good, outside their sport, especially high school kids who are young enough to still be forming their core values, we should be supporting that effort, not running it down. Do you get it yet?

Sports heroes—snort!! If I had my way, NFL, major league baseball, NBA, and other sports “heroes” would be paid about $50—$75K a year to play—oops, I mean “work,” while the jobs that should attract real hero material—firefighting, police work, teaching positions, etc., would pay such astronomical salaries that the best and the brightest would compete for those positions.

Most, if not all, the kids on the football team are not going to be NFL “heroes” in ten years' time. They are, however, going to be members of this or other communities. If they learn now the values of caring, giving, and supporting their fellow human beings, each of those communities will be better for their residence there—and each individual player (whether or not he ever plays football again) will be a better human being for this experience. And you scorn it.

Get a clue.
26 October 2009
at 8:48 a.m.

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formerlhsplayer (Anonymous) says…

This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.

28 October 2009
at 1:21 p.m.

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lion_at_heart (Anonymous) says…

seamus this is the sports section of the news paper…if you don't want to read about football players doing good things then don't read the sports section. simple as that.
28 October 2009
at 1:34 p.m.

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musbhiorlo (Anonymous) says…

what does a gridiron have to do with football, isn't that a device used for ironing grids on your pants?