A number of campus athletic departments and teams collected and donated items to Toys for Tots, a program run by the U.S. Marine Corps to distribute toys to children for Christmas. Among them were Langham Creek High School, Cypress Falls and Cypress Woods wrestling teams, Cy-Fair High School baseball and Cypress Ridge, Cypress Ranch and Cypress Springs swimming programs.
The Cypress Lakes and Jersey Village girls’ soccer programs came together during a scrimmage Dec. 10 for a “Sauces for Soldiers” game. In total, the two teams collected more than 700 bottles of hot sauce to send to soldiers stationed at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, Africa.
A number of girls’ basketball teams did the same as district play began. Bridgeland and Cypress Ranch collected blankets to donate to a local nursing home. Cy-Fair and Cypress Ridge also held a blanket drive, with the donations going to Star of Hope. Cypress Falls and Cypress Woods collected socks with all the items donated to be sent to the Family Crisis Center of East Texas.
Swimming teams from Cy-Fair, Cypress Creek, Cypress Ridge and Cypress Ranch collected toys and canned goods at the seventh annual “Maeve the Brave” College Format Invitational, with the items to be donated to local charities.
A number of teams and student-athletes also volunteered their time in giving back.
The Cypress Springs girls’ basketball team spent time on Dec. 18 at the Children Like Loni Santa’s Workshop. The Cy-Fair boys’ basketball team helped prepare meals at the Faith over Fear Transition Center’s second annual Holiday Giveaway. The Cypress Ridge volleyball team visited BeeHive Homes and sang holiday carols to the assisted-living care residents.
“I’m proud of how our coaches and student-athletes look to find ways to impact those that might need help,” said Kirk Eaton, CFISD associate director of athletics. “Too often seasons and the hard work it takes to be successful can keep a team from finding time to give back. The work our programs do are so much bigger in scope than just a two-hour game that keeps score. They teach life through each respective sport played in CFISD.”
