The Wright City Wildcat football team held an open practice and scrimmage this weekend in conjunction with a community fundraiser.
The Wildcats held a one-hour open practice Saturday followed by a one-hour scrimmage. During the event, supplies were gathered for the Wright City Food Pantry. Soup and hygiene products were collected at the event to benefit the community. The Wildcats collected 463 items for the Wright City Food Pantry.
“They were just over the top thrilled,” second-year Wright City football coach Tyler Rickard said. “And I was so proud of our team and our community that we were able to rally around and help those folks out.”
Wright City Food Pantry director Joseph Purl said the donations received from the scrimmage are a great surge for the pantry. It was a critical time for donations, with school beginning and hygiene and food items at a premium.
“It kind of raised the level of awareness for the needs of the pantry and the poor,” Purl said, “And kind of connected the students to get an idea of what those needs are along with their own fellow students. And help athletes connect into the community.”
Rickard and Purl both work at Wright City Middle School. Rickard said they got to know each other over the past year. They discussed how to help the citizens of Wright City, at which time Purl told Rickard the pantry needed hygiene products.
Rickard and Purl talked over the summer and compiled a list of items needed for the Wright City Food Pantry. The entrance fee to the scrimmage was supplying an item to go to the pantry.
“We talked over the summer and got a list,” Rickard said. “We were going to do a scrimmage anyway. And so I thought what better way than to support those in our community. And so we just asked people to bring an item as their entrance fee to the scrimmage.”
Rickard supports the Wildcats hosting a similar event in the future. They will target whatever items the community needs in future years, he said.
“We’ll continue to do as much as we can to support them,” Rickard said. “That’s the great thing about a small town like this is everybody rallies around each other and we help our neighbors out. We want to use this platform to help our community and to teach our players that yeah, football’s important, but our citizenship is equally if not more important.”