Boise State football players help community in time of need

Boise State University football players recently teamed up with the Whitney Methodist Church and the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Southwest Idaho for a “Fill the Truck” food drive in Boise, Idaho.

Due to unemployment rising in the area, the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s food banks are bracing for a spike in demand and are in need of help.

Fortunately, Boise State football players Avery Williams, Evan Tyler, Donte Harrington, Scott Matlock, John Ojukwu, Nick Crabtree, and Kole Bailey put on their face masks and stepped up to serve their community in a time of need.

Some football players held up signs and waved at vehicles passing by while others hauled canned food to help stock the food pantry.

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“Hearing about the event and hearing about what our programs and players are a part of comes to no surprise,” Chandler Thornton, a sophomore at Boise State told Campus Reform.

“Boise State has always done a great job of being involved in the community and helping those in need! I think that is also one of the things that sets our program apart is what occurs beyond the field and what occurs outside of regular expectations,” Thornton added.

”We’re just trying to show our support, just pay it back as much as we can and in times like this, where the very people that support us in the stands, we have to do the same in tough times like this,” offensive lineman Donte Harrington told KTVB-TV.

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“It means a lot because this community supports us and does a lot for us, so to give back and do some things for them, it’s a good opportunity for us, and we enjoy it,” said defensive lineman Scott Matlock.

“The Society of St. Vincent de Paul SW Idaho would like to extend a heartfelt statement of gratitude for the hundreds of individual, Business and Corporate generosity we have received during these uncertain times,”  business manager of the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Southwest Idaho Marie Fitzgerald told Campus Reform. “This includes the ‘Fill the Truck’ program service coordination and to all the ways our community has rallied to serve those hit hardest with the pandemic and business shutdowns. We will continue to assist all those in need.”

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @ChrisSchlak

Featured image source: KTVB-TV