PARKLAND – The winter holiday season is a time of sharing and service, and the Pacific Lutheran Athletics programs take part each year with various holiday traditions. One of those took place just prior to Thanksgiving this year, as the PLU cross country and track & field teams gathered donations to share with Tacoma Rescue Mission.
"As a team, we make a habit of collecting unused toiletries from any overnight competitions in order to further add to our pool of donations," PLU cross country and track & field coach Heather Kreier said. "This Thanksgiving, both the cross country and track & field teams donated non-perishable food items, gently used clothing and shoes and unused toiletries. As Lutes, we want to uplift those less fortunate than ourselves."
This year marked the fifth annual donation drive for the PLU cross country and track & field teams, and it was the programs' most successful yet with nearly 300 food items, 100 clothing items, 500 toiletries and 20 blankets donated to Tacoma Rescue Mission.
"It was great to see the teams come together to address a major issue during the holiday season," men's track & field student-athlete Lucas Hatton said. "What was even cooler to see was the amount of people at the mission committed to the same goal as us."
"Helping donate and serve the Tacoma Rescue Mission was an awesome experience with my team," men's cross country student-athlete Connor Bates said. "The amount of food, toiletries and other everyday items we brought together was insane!"
Each year the programs make the donation project into a fun competitive race amongst teams and student-athletes, keeping track of the donated items with daily updates. The drive culminated in a trip to the Tacoma Rescue Mission Nov. 25 to turn in all of the collected items.
"It was awesome to see the whole teams come together for a good cause, and the amount donated was impressive," women's track & field student-athlete Leah Johnson said.
"It was great how many different items were donated," women's cross country student-athlete Kali Pohle said. "Knowing that everything was going straight to helping people is very satisfying."
