On game days, 13 of our football players walk over to the Nursing Home and eat lunch with the residents. Wearing their game jerseys, they spread out and join the residents at their tables.
This began as I was biking home from an early August practice. The Nursing Home is right next to the High School. I saw a man sitting out in the sun as I was riding by. I felt a tug on my heart and pulled in and started to talk with him. He asked me where I was coming from and I told him, from football practice. He lit up and said, “How are the boys looking this year?” We spoke for another ten minutes and both us had our days brightened. As I peddled away, I sensed God telling me to start something really cool. The school administration loved the idea and we’ve been sharing lunch on game days with some really awesome people since then.
I’ve been told that some of the women at the Nursing Home are asking to have their hair done on Friday mornings before the football players visit. I’m in the coach’s booth up in the press box for games. One night as I was walking up before the game, a guy I knew stopped me and thanked me for sitting with his mom at the Nursing Home earlier that day. The community loves our football team.
Our players just understand that: “This is who we are. This is what we do. We use our strength to serve others.” We believe that it is helping to build young people who consider the needs of others. It carries on to the field as they understand that a caring team plays better than a selfish one.
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