URBANA — Edison Middle School’s eighth-grade boys’ basketball team has three games coming up soon, but the Comets took a day off from practice to help out at the Eastern Illinois Foodbank.
Maybe their undefeated record this season was a sign they could take a break, but coach Scott Olthoff said he’s been trying to get a volunteer day organized for a while.
“It’s about giving back to the community,” Olthoff said. “I don’t think the boys even knew this was here.”
The Urbana food bank was the ideal place to bring the team — the huge facility has more than enough space for the group, and Olthoff just needed to give a heads-up that they’d be arriving.
The boys were given the task of sorting through giant boxes of potatoes, counting them out into bags that people could grab more easily and tossing any that have gone bad.
They seemed to be enjoying it.
“I’m happy ’cause I get to help out with my friends and teammates,” Chris Kayembe said. “I get to share this with them.”
He’s feeling pretty happy about the team’s record, too, and wants people to come out to the Comets’ home game Dec. 12 against the Franklin STEAM Academy Knights.
“I feel like we’re going to keep winning,” he said.
Dylan Craig was having a good enough time that he’d be down to pick up more volunteer work — if he could bring the team along.
“It’s better than doing it alone; it’s a lot more fun,” Craig said.
Either way, he said it was nice to help out the community.
Shiloh Boucek has a little prior volunteer experience, so he was just happy to do it with the team.
This is his second year on the team, but he’s been blown away by their success this year.
“It’s way better than anything I’ve ever seen,” Boucek said.
Trey Smith likewise has some volunteer experience, and would do it again if asked.
“It feels good to help people out,” he said.
Amanda Borden, vice president of development at the food bank, said school groups are helpful because they bring in lots of energetic volunteers.
“It’s a great way for us to connect with the community,” she said.
“They’re always so enthusiastic.”
It also gives the students a chance to learn about food insecurity and see how they can help.
The help is needed, Borden said, because the food bank served 40 percent more people this year than it did last year.
The food bank has been continuously expanding in order to keep up with the demand for food, especially fresh and nutritious ingredients like the potatoes the basketball players were sorting.
There are open volunteer hours Tuesday through Thursday afternoons that anyone can just show up to — though Borden said it’s helpful for large groups to sign up so that everything will be set up before they arrive.
As the food bank has expanded, the volunteer community has too.
“We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without the groups that come in,” Borden said.
“We provide a very fun and impactful way to give back to the community.”