August 12, 2009

What I did on my summer vacation: Mullen football players volunteer

By John Gleason

Student athletes from J.K. Mullen High School aren’t letting the summer days go to waste.  When they aren’t in the weight room, getting in shape for the upcoming season, members of the school’s football team are busy raising money for their sport while at the same time performing community service. 

The football program at Mullen is self-funded.  In order to raise money for the program, students, working through a parent group called the Mullen End Zone Club, send out letters to alumni, family, friends and businesses.  The letters express gratitude for past support and also solicit donations.  In return, the players perform volunteer work—anything from general chores and maintenance to community service. 

During July the players volunteered at World Vision International, a Christian relief and development organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and justice.  For a couple of days last month, the students were boxing up sporting equipment to be sent to Latin America.  Sixteen-year old A.J. Colaizzi said the students have been volunteering at World Vision since long before he came to Mullen.

“I’m not sure how long the players have been coming here,” he said.  “But in addition to the fundraising for the team, students are required to do 70 hours of community service before being allowed to graduate.  World Vision is a good place to do that. There is always a lot to do.”

On these particular days members of the varsity, junior varsity and even the freshman squads showed up to lend a hand.

“We had more than 70 guys show up,” Colaizzi said.  “We repacked sports equipment, shoes and soccer and footballs then loaded up the pallets for shipping to kids in Third World nations.  At one table the guys packed up more than 900 shoes by themselves.  It goes fast with so many helping.”

Seventeen-year old senior Beau Martin said that while the project is a good way for the team to raise money, the community service aspect makes it meaningful. 
“(That’s the) bigger part to this,” he said, “knowing we can help out. … It gives me a lot of satisfaction knowing that my teammates and I can go to places like World Vision and give back in a way.”

Through the Gifts In Kind program at World Vision, people around the world have access to things they otherwise would never see, according to Dean Salisbury, associate director of World Vision’s global supply management.

“Out of this warehouse we ship furniture, clothes, medicine, shoes and toys,” he said. “We have a publisher who donates Bibles and Sunday school materials, which go to hundreds of countries.”

To move all these goods requires an army of volunteers and Salisbury said World Vision was proud to have the Mullen students as part of the more than 3,500 volunteers who make sure the goods get to where they need to be.

“These young men work very hard,” Salisbury said.  “They are enthusiastic, full of energy and always make sure the job is done correctly.  You just can’t say enough good things about them.”