Cumberland Hockey Team Skips School for a Cause
Friday, December 13, 2013
It was 21 degrees outside on Thursday afternoon, 14 if you factor in the wind-chill. It was the type of cold that feels inhabitable even to people who voluntarily spend hours upon hours of their weeks on a frozen surface.
And yet, clad in their matching Clipper-blue winter jackets, the Cumberland High School hockey team stood outside for hours on end, volunteering their services to the Adopt-A-Family agency on Social Street in Woonsocket. Lifting large, black trash bags packed with presents into and out of cars, trucks, and vans, the Clippers played the role of Santa’s elves for hundreds of children hoping for presents under the tree this year.
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Community service from teams isn’t required by the Rhode Island Interscholastic League. The Clippers were there on their own accord.
“We all just thought it was a good idea just to take our time to help out other families that are in need or in a rough time right now,” said tri-captain Jay Donnelly.
“Team Mom” Shannon Wellington helps volunteer for Adopt-A-Family and helped facilitate the team’s participation. Organizers of Adopt-A-Family’s week-long present drive were thankful for the extra helping hands.
Executive Director Sandra Soares said that Adopt-A-Family would be providing for 2,215 kids this holiday season. That means approximately 4,500 of those large trash bags filled with presents would be accepted from donors and distributed to families in need over the week.
Vice President Brenda Viscione described Adopt-A-Family’s 7 month process as a thorough but effective one, beginning with preliminary meetings in August and culminating in March. Families in need provide birth certificates for all kids on their application and have to show identification when it comes time to pick up the presents. The donors receive a wish list from their adopted family and the donor/receiver relationship is kept anonymous.
Adopt-A-Family is run completely on a volunteer basis and relies 100 percent on private donations. Soares said the largest donor this year would be providing for 370 children. When large donations come in all at once, it’s helpful to have as many hands on deck as possible.
“It’s just a good opportunity to give back and help out,” said tri-captain Andrew Pluta. “That’s what being a team is all about. Coach every day tries to make us better people, and this is what it all comes down to.”
All 26 members of the Clippers’ hockey team were on hand helping out on Thursday. Andreozzi said the majority of the roster is filled with underclassmen, but his seniors and captains have done a great job continuing the community-centric culture of the hockey program.
“We take them under our wing and let them know what we do,” said tri-captain Greg Wellington. All 3 captains expressed their goal of leading by example, on the ice and off of it.
“Part of coaching high school sports isn’t about just wins and losses in my opinion,” said Andreozzi. “It’s about teaching kids about life and everything else, and this is just as important. You’re part of a community, part of a fabric of society in that, by doing these things you’re giving back to the community you live in.”
Andreozzi and his players joked about the added bonus of getting out of school early to go help out at Adopt-A-Family. The coach quickly added in that the work ethic of his team was another big reason they were willing to be excused from class and spend the day learning lessons that can’t be taught from a textbook.
“As much as we work hard to try to be the best team we can be, we have another side to us,” said the proud coach.
It also shows that the biggest win the Cumberland Hockey Team earns this season won’t be one that shows up in the standings. It’ll be one that shows up under hundreds of Christmas trees and on thousands of young faces this holiday season.
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