Last year, Olympia’s Capital High School (CHS) head football coach, Terry Rose, attended Green Hill School’s (GHS) Pursuit for Change event. This youth-led event touched Rose and aligned with CHS’s Restorative Justice Program.
Recently, Rose reached out to GHS to see what their needs are during the holidays. Toy drives are most common, and because GHS has several young fathers and father figures in residence, the CHS football team decided to organize a toy drive on their behalf, so the young men could provide toys to their children. The community support for this toy drive was inspiring and collection sites were overwhelmed with donations. More than 250 toys were collected with an estimated value of around $3,000.
Rose, along with CHS Athletic Director Steve Taylor and a couple of players, delivered the toys in mid-December.
“The kindness of this act is deeply felt. I have never been able to give my child a gift like this before. Thank you for thinking of us, especially during these times,” said GHS resident Muhammed.
Coach Rose responded with, “The donations exceeded our expectations. The community knew who they were donating to and what for. You should all know that people in the community care about you.”
Each father selected a book, stuffed animal, and toy – wrapping and mailing each to their child. Because of the abundance of donations, the GHS youth, in partnership with the CHS football program, agreed to donate the remaining toys to Pope’s Place, a Centralia-area nonprofit that provides care for medically fragile children and young adults. The CHS football program stated that this will be an annual community service project for the team, with GHS fathers as the recipients.
On behalf of GHS youth and staff, the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families sends a warm thank you to the CHS football program for their kindness and generosity this holiday season.