CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — Big Spring High School turned its Friday night football game into a fundraiser to support those affected by recent hurricanes in the southern United States.
With the cost of admission set at a bag of essential supplies, the school district has seen an outpouring of generosity from residents and organizations. Over the past week, Big Spring has collected truckloads of items aimed at helping neighbors in crisis, including families they've never met.
Emma Rice, a senior at Big Spring High School, said coming together is just what her community does.
“People are people, and we want to step in and help out, whether we know them or not,” Rice said, praising the strong sense of community in Newville.
Hurricane Helene robbed thousands of their livelihoods, putting life into perspective for those like Big Spring High School teacher Scott Anderson.
“I’m fortunate, I can go home to my house, it’s warm, it’s dry. I can go to the fridge there’s food, I can lay in my bed,” he said, adding that other people in the country are not as lucky.
That’s why the community coming together to share the wealth is so important.
“I always like the idea of paying it forward. I wouldn’t want to be in that situation and if I have the power to help someone that’s in that situation in the future, it may be returned,” Anderson stated.
A lesson that is being passed on to his students, who are celebrating senior night at this week’s game.
“My heart goes out to them because they don’t have the opportunity to experience a football game right now because they’re just dealing with the disaster of what happened,” he said.
While the list of supplies mainly included essentials like water, canned food, medicine and cleaning supplies, some community members are adding more comforting items to the boxes.
“For a kid who lost everything, to hand them a skateboard, putting a basketball in their hand, something that allows him or her to be distracted from what’s going on around them and give them some sense of normalcy, that’s an important thing,” Anderson expressed.
With more than a dozen local organizations involved in the initiative, as well as individual donors contributing supplies, Rice says sharing the wealth doesn’t have to break the bank.
“We had a group of people donate one thing of Clorox wipes. Just that little thing goes a long way and I don’t think people realize that,” Rice said.
With two truckloads of supplies to emergency centers in North Carolina, one of the states hit hardest by Helene the Newville community is demonstrating that when it comes to compassion, every little bit counts.