Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Zach Compton

Contributing Writer

 

Claiborne High School hosted a football game against Chuckey-Doak High School from Greene County, Tennessee. The game was originally set to be played at Chuckey-Doak, but flooding and other heavy damages from the recent weather made that an impossibility. Greene County was heavily affected by hurricane Helene and several in the area remain without power or water, so Claiborne High took the opportunity to turn the game into a way to support the students of Chuckey-Doak facing this difficult time by donating all proceeds to the affected counties.
“When we heard about the tragedies that had happened in East Tennessee and North Carolina we got together — myself, Mr. McGinnis, and Mrs. Walker, and we met with Mr. Ensley from the Ayers Foundation and Mrs. Short to start coming up with some plans to do something to give back to the people who were coming out tonight,” Claiborne High Principal Craig Ivey said.

The school also created bags of needed toiletries and other items like water and gatorade to hand out to the players and cheerleaders from Chuckey-Doak as well as providing all of them with a free meal.
“The Chuckey-Doak community is in a lot of need between the flooding and the hurricane. When the game got moved to here our clubs within our school saw it as an opportunity to help another community that’s in need,” said Claiborne Athletic Director Andrew McGinnis. “We gathered a bunch of supplies: shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, water, gatorades, all kinds of things, and made individual bags for all of Chuckey-Doak’s players and cheerleaders that are going to be here tonight.

“It’s just a way to show that they’re not alone in this and that we care and want to help in any way that we can.”

The idea to create these bags of necessities was created by Claiborne High Bookkeeper Shelly Short. The clubs that offered donations include Honors, First Priority, Student Council, Beta, Spark, Key, FFA, Volleyball, Girls Basketball, and Boys basketball alongside the football team. The school’s Career and Technical (CTE) department also offered donations for relief efforts in the affected counties.

It wasn’t just the school’s clubs that helped secure donations for this event however, McGinnis also noted that community support had played an important role in securing other donations for those affected, and says that the school is still accepting donations.

Jamie Ensley of the Ayers Foundation said the community support is greatly appreciated.
“We’ve been taking donations all week at the school for water, food, and other supplies. Money from the gate fee and the concession stand tonight are going to be split between our friends in Unicoi, Cocke, and Greene counties where our team from tonight is coming from.”

Ivey added that it was a valuable learning experience for students to see the school and community support those in need following a natural disaster.

“When we have moments of tragedy like this I think it’s important that our communities come together and try to bond and help each other out,” he said.