Serving took on a whole new meaning to the Pam Pack girls’ tennis team on Saturday as the players took a morning to donate their service to the Eagle’s Wings in Washington as part of a school project.
The Eagles Wings is designed to distribute free and discounted food to those who qualify for it, and on Saturday the Pack tennis team gave a helping hand to the ones who usually do the assisting.
“Every Washington sports or club team is encouraged to do a community-based project,” Washington girls’ tennis coach Phedora Johnson said. “The goal of the community service project is to produce better citizens. This experience accomplished that.”
The girls arrived at the Eagle’s Wings, which is located on 932 West Second St. in Washington, at 9:30 a.m. ready for duty as they stored food and helped organize items in the store.
“They have a little shopping center in the back, which is where the team was,” Johnson said. “We were organizing and stocking shelves and packing potatoes, oranges and apples.”
When their shift was over many of players had made plans for a return visit.
“It was great because while we where there the girls started asking more questions about how they could get more involved on their own time,” Johnson said. “That’s really encouraging to hear from teenagers who are willing to sacrifice like that.”
While there, the players used the same energy and effort they bring to the tennis court to ace the assignment.
“We worked so diligently that we finished early,” said Johnson, whose team was scheduled to be at the Eagle’s Wings until 11:30 a.m.
Johnson said she was most impressed by the players’ positive attitudes.
“They had a lot of fun and really got into it. You could definitely tell that they wanted to be there,” Johnson said. “They weren’t begrudging at all. They never complained about waking up on a Saturday morning. The girls have really good spirits.”
While the community project helps foster the girls’ awareness, it also strengthened team chemistry.
“I think it definitely helped to bring the girls together,” Johnson said. “When they showed up (Saturday) morning they all got out of their cars and hugged each other. It goes to show they’re not friends just for tennis season, they’re friends beyond tennis.”