Cards for Humanity
Like all athletic teams these days, the Seneca Valley girls basketball team cannot be together.
But the Raiders are trying to make a difference while they're apart.
Each player on the team is writing out a few cards of encouragement and sending them off to residents of nursing homes or senior citizen living centers during the coronavirus pandemic.
The idea was the brainchild of SV girls basketball coach Dorothea Epps.
“My sister works at a senior center in Uniontown,” Epps said. “All of those places ... They can't have any visitors right now.
“The rest of us, at least we have our families at home with us. Other than the workers at these facilities, the people there have no one. They feel alone.
“I approached my team captains about writing out cards and sending them to those residents. We're just giving words of encouragement, trying to lift their spirits, show them that we care,” Epps added.
Jaden Davinsizer, a junior and one of the Raider captains, embraced the idea.“We've got 17 players doing it,” Jaden said. “A couple of us are writing out four cards a week, some are doing three, whatever it takes.”The content of the cards — many of which are home-made — includes the players telling the residents about themselves, along with positive messages and invitations for them to write back.“We'd love to hear back from them, learn about them,” Jaden said.The players plan to send cards to a different facility in the area each week, as long as the pandemic continues. They started out with the Rolling Road Regency Apartments in Cranberry Township.Their next round of cards will go to Sherwood Oaks, a senior residential village, also in Cranberry.The cards' destinations will fan out from there.“My mom works at a nursing home in Rochester,” Raider junior Kaitlyn Wolfe said. “She tells me about their situation, how they're restricted to their rooms. They can't even visit each other.“It's so sad to her. Everyone understands it's for their own safety and well-being, but those are the people who need encouragement and interaction the most and they can't get it.”
That's why Kaitlyn — like all of her teammates — jumped at the idea to write out cards.“My mother said if we give the cards to her, she'll take them to work with her,” Kaitlyn said. “If the cards bring a smile to their faces, this project is well worth it.”And it keeps the team aspect alive for the players.“Even though we can't hang out together, this is a way we can do something together as a team,” Jaden said. “It's keeping us busy in a positive way.”Maddie Karchut, a senior on the Seneca Valley team, said the team is making sure every resident at the targeted facility receives a card.The team receives an accurate number of residents from facility directors before organizing the project each week.“We don't want to miss anybody,” Maddie said. “We found out there were 50 residents at Rolling Road, so we did 50 cards. We'll get the numbers from Sherwood Oaks and do the same thing.“We're sending out inspiring quotes, positive anecdotes, anything we can think of. We tell them a lot about ourselves. We want them to know who we are and we hope to learn about who they are.”Maddie does volunteer work at the Lutheran Senior Center in Zelienople.“I enjoy my interaction with the people there. I help them out with social activities,” she said. “We've developed great relationships and I know how important that is to all of them.“Now we're developing new relationships. We can't visit them in person, but we try to be as creative as possible with our cards. We're putting a lot of thought into these.”Seneca Valley's girls basketball season ended weeks ago with a first-round loss in the WPIAL Class 6A Tournament.The team's bond off the court — and away from each other — is stronger than ever.“I am so proud of these girls,” Epps said. “I know what tremendous young people they are. They've embraced this ... I can't say I'm surprised.”
