The Girls Step Up Their Game: Helping Needy Families!

By Jossie Ingram

Every year, the girls’ varsity basketball team takes time out of their schedule to help the needy.

“I think it’s a great thing that we did this as a team and it helps the people in our community that need help. It makes them very happy and they get to have a good Christmas that they might not have been able to have,” Kylee McGeary 11 said.

The team has been helping needy families for two years, but a different family each year.

“Helping out the family during rough times was a great opportunity for RAL girls’ basketball team to give back to the community that supports us. It was an eye opener for some of the girls,” JV Coach Kim McBride said.

Gwen Wilson finds the families that need the most help. She works at Head Start, a school for low income families, and looks for a family that could use a little extra help.

 The team then makes donations or raises donations from the community to buy that family gifts.

“I thought it was a good thing that we did and it was really fun. I love that we helped a family in need. ,” Nicole Cunningham 10 said.

The teams started the charity event to give back to the community for all the support that the community has given them.

“I enjoyed the experience of helping the needy family during Christmas time, because I think everyone deserves a great Christmas. I think that the teams should continue to do this because it gives people in our community a different outlook on kids and what they do,” Christina Driscoll 12 said.

The C-Squad, JV, and Varsity teams go out together with the money that they have donated or gotten donated and buy presents for the kids while the coaches go get the dinner for the whole family.

Each group of girls gets a certain family member and are told the age and gender. That’s how they know what to get the family.

“It’s a better place for our money to go rather than to secret sisters. Its better to help others who don’t get a Christmas than just little gifts,” Savannah Sandberg 10 said.