While most college students can go home for the long Christmas break, the demands on ACC student athletes mean they must stay in town.
Without the cafeteria at Allen Community College in service over the break, parishioners at St. Timothys Episcopal Church fill in.
According to Candice Sifers, the program started when a parishioner the mother of cross country coach Vince DeGrado proposed feeding the student athletes over the break.
It started with just the cross-country team but has since blossomed to feed all student athletes.
The service has become so popular, that ACC athletes now must take turns dining at the church.
We have kind of outgrown the church, which saddens us because we are not able to see them as much as we used to, ACC athletic director Doug Desmarteau said. We used to be here every single holiday. Now we are here a couple of weeks before school starts and a few other times during the year.
Last Friday, the mens and womens basketball teams enjoyed a home-cooked meal at the church.
Mens head basketball coach Andy Shaw said the program helps the coaches tremendously as well as familiarizes the athletes with members of the community. Shaw said the church has fed ACC basketball teams for eight years.
Shaw said before the church stepped up, the team was having to piece together meals from fast-food restaurants, which was hard to do between practices.
It was just so hectic for us to get our practices in and then get a meal ready. It really was a full days work, Shaw said.
While the relationship the athletes build with the parishioners is great, it can be even more meaningful to the church members.
We have pictures of all the athletes we have fed over the years on the wall, Donna Sifers said.
She said church member Marsha Buris regularly photographs ACC athletes at their respective competitions and posts the photos on Facebook.
We try to get to know the athletes and their families and learn a little about the places they are from, Burris said.
A trio of womens basketball players from Oklahoma Sadie Dean, Brandi Jordan and Zariah Sango said they appreciated the church meals.
