Lehi Sports
Skyridge Football players participate in day of service
Megan Wallgren | Lehi Free Press
The Skyridge Football team took time off from summer training to serve the community. During their June camp, the team partnered with several charity organizations to participate in a day of service.
“It was a great way for the boys to step outside themselves. They got to forget about football. They got to forget about the stress of the season. They got to forget about the competition and instead think about others and how they can help others. And they got to do things they wouldn’t otherwise do,” said team parent Tammy Bennett, who helped organize the event.
Around 130 players participated in the service activity. They worked on various projects, including tying quilts and fleece blankets, weaving plastic grocery bags into sleeping mats, sanding and painting wooden toy cars, stuffing simple fabric dolls, and putting the finishing touches on marble maze toys.
During their service hours, players could choose from the available projects. “They really enjoyed it. They moved around, and it was fun to see their faces when they found something they liked and said, ‘Hey, this is something I enjoy,’” added Bennett.
Together, players completed one quilt, five sleeping mats and five fleece blankets, stuffed about 25 dolls, put the finishing touches on around 25 marble mazes, and sanded and painted 200 toy cars. Players also helped with prep and clean-up for the event. They also each contributed $3 of their own money to pay for the supplies.
“My favorite thing was working on making the toy cars. It was fun to see everyone work together. We all had different jobs, like sanding or glazing, but it brought us closer together because we needed to help each other out to make it work,” said Skyridge senior and team co-captain Noah Bird.
Bird likes the idea of taking time out from the hard work of camp to do service. “High School football is all about setting you up for real life and helping us all be better people. Helping people in need is an important part of that,” he said.
Senior co-captain Samuel Pollmann said, “We as a whole talk about how much the community supports us, and it was awesome to be able to give back to the community. We’re getting team chemistry working together, and we get to know the world around us and support the people who are supporting us. We can rally behind the less fortunate the way everyone rallies behind us. It’s a really positive experience.”
The items they worked on during their day of service were donated to various local charity organizations to benefit those in need.
