Serving the Community: The York Varsity Girls Lacrosse team assists York students with a pop-up food pantry
January 21, 2021
While many spent the long weekend on vacation or staying warm inside, members of the York Varsity Girls Lacrosse team went to a Bensenville apartment complex. The purpose of the short trip was to set up a pop-up food pantry for people who don’t have transportation to other food pantries.
“I think it’s really important that we are serving our community during this time,” sophomore Payton Romano said. “It’s not as easy to go to the grocery store and just put a few things in your cart.”
While the complex was located in Bensenville, several of the residents are York and District 205 students. This pandemic has impacted us all differently, but with unemployment rising in many households, some of these students were forced to pick up jobs with long hours.
“The fundraiser we are trying to do right now is helping teenagers who go to York High School,” senior Ellie Bernard said. “They don’t actually go home to go to sleep, they work all night.”
Not being able to get together for preseason practices, the team used this as an opportunity to not only serve the community but also get together to do some team bonding. As a team sport that has already missed out on their 2020 spring season, they are trying to ensure they are ready for when they return to the field.
“The York Lacrosse team has always done a lot of fundraisers because that’s pretty much our only way of bringing in money,” Bernard said. “I especially think fundraisers like this where we’re able to help other students and other people in the community are really beneficial for team bonding.”
Like most good deeds, not only did the apartment residents benefit from the food pantry, but volunteers did as well. With so many normalities changing in the world, it’s becoming easier to see how fortunate certain people are and how much you can give back to others.
“It really put me in perspective to see how grateful I really am and how much my parents do for me,” junior Olivia Holubowicz said. “It really benefited me because I got to help people and make their day and make their lives a little bit easier.”
