On Saturday, February 1, 2014, the Boys Varsity Basketball Team took a break from practice and volunteered at the local Salvation Army in Hempstead on behalf of Faith Mission Inc. Faith Mission is a charitable group where the parents of Assistant Coach Chris Lyons work every Saturday to help people in need. Coach Lyons’ mom, Denise, says she loves working at the Faith Mission because it gives her a great sense of satisfaction and that, “hopefully I have touched someone in a loving way, the way Jesus would want me to.”
The players arrived early in the morning bringing bags full of clothing and food for people in need and then prepared to get down to work. While half of the team served breakfast, the other half distributed clothing to almost two hundred people. The team then helped prepare lunch and serve food to a hall full of hungry people. “Serving the community at the Salvation Army greatly humbled me and showed me how simple it is to help people in need,” commented Dillon McGee, a senior forward on the team. The team then cleaned off tables, stacked chairs, and swept the floors until mid-afternoon. “Our trip to the Salvation Army was life changing and taught me not to take what I have for granted,” said Derek Okunpolar. The Faith Mission event was part of the Varsity Basketball Team’s annual Giving Back to the Community Day in which they choose a charitable cause and come together as a team to help others.