Saints learning the importance of giving back
St. Charles East boys volleyball coach Stephanie Gooden is all about her players volunteering.
After all, when she was a coach in Ohio, it was mandatory they gave back to the community.
It was no different when Gooden arrived at St. Charles East last year. The Saints did volunteer work and had no problem doing it.
This year, the Saints were part of several things that involved giving back to the community. In early April, junior Sean Kelly, an Eagle Scout, organized a project at LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles. About a week later, the program donated $300 from booster funds raised for the Northern Illinois University Memorial Fund after the tragedy that took place Feb. 14.
On May 17, the Saints and their families and friends are going to participate in a Cystic Fibrosis walk in Geneva to raise awareness in the community.
"Whatever school I'm at, I think it's really important to give back," Gooden said. "The guys have been great about it. The varsity guys are part of both events, even though I told them they had to only do one, which is awesome."
On April 6, the team headed to LeRoy Oakes and worked in the park to preserve the natural habitats of the area's animals. They also cleaned up the area, which will help more plants to grow.
What started off as a requirement for just Kelly turned into a team event. He said he wasn't surprised when his teammates wanted to pitch in.
"I just knew I needed a lot of volunteers," Kelly said. "I wanted to get as many people, and I got the whole team, including the JV and freshmen. I was glad when (Gooden) said she wanted us to do this and was supportive."
"It sounded like a great thing," Gooden added.
Senior Chris Brucher agreed.
"Everyone wants to be a better person… (this) helped us build ourselves into better people," Brucher said. "It actually was pretty fun. It was a lot of work, but everyone was there. It went by fast and we got a lot done. It didn't even seem like work."
As far as the NIU fund, the tragedy hit close to home, as Gooden and her husband Ray, who is the women's volleyball coach, were both on DeKalb campus when the shootings occurred.
"It really meant something to me to give to the memorial fund because that was one of the worst days of my life," Gooden said. "I was in the office with (daughter Gianna) and Ray was in his office and we couldn't find each other. That's a very scary thing when you don't know where the shooter is or what's going on. By the time we found each other, it took us two hours to round up all his (players). It was a very scary day for us, so anything we can do to help is big."
The Cystic Fibrosis walk is for a family based in the Tri-Cities area. Raffle tickets will be sold to raise money.
"That is going to be really exciting," Gooden said. "It's going to be a really nice event. We'll get out there with the families and parents, walk and have a good time."