AHS, PHS Athletes Help With Disaster Relief Effort

Members of the AHS girls basketball team who helped package relief supplies to the East Coast included, front row at right, Cayla Walker, Winter Fricke. Second row: Alexa Coressel, Brooke Hines, Taylor Coressel, Cassidy Wyse. Back row: Jesse Fidler, Cassi Wyse, Neila Kinsman.– courtesy photo

“I just can’t say enough about Archbold and the athletes,” said Denise Nofziger, Pettisville, on Monday.

The Archbold High School boys and girls basketball teams and football team volunteered to assist Crossroads Evangelical Church, Wauseon, with its project to collect, package, and ship relief supplies to the East Coast, which was ravaged by Superstorm Sandy early on Monday, Oct. 29.

Nofziger said both the boys and girls basketball teams were at the church on Sunday, Nov. 11, helping to sort, box, and label supplies that had been dropped off.

Also on hand were Joe Frank, assistant boys basketball coach, and Brian Ziegler, head girls basketball coach.

“Archbold kids sorted canned goods, baby supplies, tooth brushes,” and other items, she said.

They assembled boxes, applied tape to them to add strength, then filled them with supplies and labeled them.

Also on hand were studentathletes from the Pettisville junior varsity boys basketball team and female athletes from Delta High School.

Members of the AHS boys basketball and football teams who helped package supplies included, from left: Taylor Price, Michael Walker, Jase Grosjean, Luke Fisher, Evan Wyse.– courtesy photo

Nofziger said Pettisville students took up a collection for disaster relief, along with Lockport Mennonite Church, rural Stryker,

The following day, Monday, Nov. 12, the AHS football team helped load the boxes onto pallets in prepa- ration for shipping.

Altogether, Nofziger said the students assisted in packing six pallets full of relief supplies.

As each pallet contains 30 to 40 boxes, that is as many as 240 boxes, she said.

They were picked up Monday by a truck from ISOH/ IMPACT, a Christian nonprofi t service group headquartered in Perrysburg.

Nofziger said the supplies will be delivered to a church in Brooklyn, N.Y. From there, they will be distributed to other churches and shelters.

Nofziger said the church will continue to accept donations from 9 am to 3 pm during the week. Another collection is schedule for 2 to 4 pm, Sunday, Nov. 18, at the church.

Joe Frank, AHS assistant boys basketball coach, fills a box.– courtesy photo

“We are very grateful to Archbold,” Nofziger said.

“Archbold picked up the ball and ran with it.”