TALLAHASSEE, Fl. (WTXL) — The Pop Warner football teams in Chaires are in need of some help fundraising. The organization is asking the public to come out and support their teams, because they desperately need new equipment, especially football helmets.
One of the equipment managers for the teams, Drew Rowan, explained that helmets expire after 10 years.
"We all get together, we're a big family and try to help out as much as we can. But, the helmets are our biggest need right now. We probably need, at least, 50 to 60 helmets," Rowan said. "And they're about 100 dollars a piece, so you can do the math, so that's why we're doing all of these fundraisers coming up and walk up registrations."
The team had to throw away a lot of helmets last year because of the expiration date. According to Coach Eugene Ware Jr., when it comes to children and the protection level that helmets provide, the adults must be the good example.
"If they don't see us out supporting them and saying 'You're doing the right things,' then you'll have a lot of kids doing things that they probably shouldn't be doing," said Ware. "The second thing for me is that, everybody remembers what the American dream is. So, we have to work hard and we're trying to teach these kids that hard work really brings rewards later on."
Before the season starts next month, the organization is going to have a couple of fundraisers. The fundraising coordinator for the Chaires Eagles, Lindsay Honeyman, explains you might see the team and parents outside Publix and Walmart asking for donations. However, they'll also be holding fundraisers that everyone will find exciting.
"This weekend, specifically, we have our cornhole tournament being held at Bumpa's. It's being put on by 850 Cornhole. Everybody is welcome, family, friends, kids, it's going to be a lot of fun," Honeyman explained. The tournament will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Cheer Commissioner for Chaires Pop Warner, Kimberly Blakc added, "This fundraiser helps this program. It helps buy uniforms, it helps buy helmets, it helps do a lot of things that the kids need. They could be doing other things, even at a young age, there's so much negativity out there and we're trying to give them something positive to do. Something to channel their energy in to. And fundraising is a part of what we do to help fund our programs, so we're asking everybody to come out, come visit the food trucks, come see about the giveaways, just come out and enjoy yourself, bring a child, bring your child, bring some children out there. We've got bounce houses, we have everything you need, it's just a big family fun day to get our name out there, to help our community, to bring in more participants into this program."
On Tuesday, July 30th, the organization will hold another fundraiser that's being called a fun day. Parents have the opportunity to bring their kids and register them for cheerleading or football. Also, there will be a taco truck on site, as well as bounce houses and games. The fun day will be held from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Apalachee Regional Park.
If you can't make it to the fundraisers, but want to help the eagles out, see the links below:
Co-manager of equipment Drew Rowan: drowan67@gmail.com
