Every year across the nation, high school and college students, teachers, alumni, and friends join together to celebrate their school with homecoming festivities and athletic competitions. This year, The Episcopal School of Dallas added a community service project to the Homecoming agenda to give back to the students at the St. Philip’s School and Community Center.

“We wanted to add a community service component to the Booster Club’s agenda while also building on our partnership with St. Philip’s School and Community Center,” Angie Russell, president of ESD’s Booster Club, explained. “We thought Homecoming would be the perfect week because it’s already such a high energy-filled time on campus. We knew there would be a lot of people around to give us more exposure.”

ESD parent Shelly Groves had the initial idea of collecting sports gear. From there, with the help of another ESD mom,Christie Scardino, parent volunteers started marketing the drive and collecting supplies to start packing the bus.

“The drive showed how amazingly responsive the ESD community is to the needs of others!” Russell said. “We want to make this annual event and continue to teach our students the importance of serving others and giving back to the community. I hope that next year more students can get involved and deliver the equipment so they can see their efforts pay off.”

By halftime of the varsity football game, the bus was jam-packed with equipment. In all, 775 items were stuffed onto the bus, including: 196 pairs of athletic socks, 134 soccer balls, 113 basketballs, 90 mouth guards, 53 footballs, 46 pieces of padding equipment, 31 pairs of athletic shows, 27 assorted pieces of lacrosse gear, 24 assorted balls, 23 baseballs, 20 baseball gloves, 15 pairs of shin guards, and three kick balls.

“I can’t stop thinking about all of the kids and how big the smiles on their faces will be when they receive these gifts,” Christie Scardino said.