Football Team Shows Support for Community

Members of the Emory & Henry football team spent a day last week showing support for a community that has been very supportive of them.

On Thursday, Oct. 14, team members performed community service in eight locations. They painted, built shelves, cut brush, removed trash, cleaned barns and read to children, among numerous other tasks.

“Everywhere they worked, these athletes worked hard for the community and were greatly appreciated,” said Shai Cullop, coordinator of campus service programs.

The eight service sites for the team included Feeding America Southwest Virginia, a food pantry where the athletes served food, stocked shelves, boxed food and checked food for safety; Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Glade Spring, where they organized merchandise, painted and built shelves; Hayters Gap Head Start, where the team read to and visited with children; the Hands of Grace Assisted Living Facility, where the volunteers pained, removed a fence and helped prepare for the reopening of the facility; the Southwest Virginia 4-H Educational Center, where the athletes cut away brush and honeysuckle from a blueberry patch; the Town of Abingdon/Coomes Center, where they worked on playground maintence and re-graveling of a walking trail; the Town of Glade Spring, where football players removed trash from the Town Square and landscaped medians; and Wonderkids Therapeutic Equestrian Center, where they cleaned and winterized a barn.

“Thank you so much for the Football Team coming here to Hayter's Gap today,” wrote one of the site managers at the Hayter’s Gap Head Start. “The children had a wonderful time playing football with them today. The team seemed to enjoyed it too. They worked very hard here today. We invited them back anytime they can come.