The football team is getting ready to venture on their annual spring break trip to Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch in Riverhead, New York. The football team has spent many spring breaks at Timothy Hill.
According to the Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch website, the ranch opened in November of 1980 and for 30 years has been a camp for children in the midst of abuse, neglect, and crisis to find refuge.
The football team will spend a week helping out on the 70 acres of land that make up the ranch by working several jobs to help keep the camp up-to-date and safe. They will also spend time getting to know the campers who range from 7-18 years old. Junior Eric Simmons has been before and said he looks forward to returning.
“During that week we were able to serve and build relationships with the children there,” Simmons said. “What I enjoyed most about the trip was the process of getting to know all the children. Those first two days were very awkward, but by the end of the week I felt like I knew those kids my whole life. It was an awesome feeling.”
Coach Luke Cullins has lead two of the spring break trips to Riverhead and said this trip is a great opportunity for the team to interact, help out and build relationships.
“When Coach Huck took over, he decided he wanted our guys to go on a mission trip and that was a natural fit,” Cullins said.
The team will spend most of the week getting to know the campers by playing games and spending time together. Senior Austin Kiel is planning several of this year’s activities and devotionals and will share his experiences from past trips.
“The big part that I enjoy is being with them and interacting with these guys and opening up to them, hoping they’ll open up to us,” Kiel said. “That’s really fun for me to know that we can impact their lives and that they also impact ours.”
