Chelmsford Field Hockey Teams Donate To Chelmsford

CHELMSFORD, MA — With the pandemic increasing the demand on local food pantries nationwide, even as the holidays approach, the Chelmsford field hockey team got an idea.

"This was all team-promoted," said second-year head coach Susan D'Agostino. "A couple of our kids talked about the needs of the pantry."

The field hockey teams – made up of 39 team members on varsity and junior varsity squads A and B – gathered food and groceries and made a special delivery to the Chelmsford Food Pantry Thursday.

Team captains senior Morgan Wright and juniors Maddie Priestly and Sarah Latham discussed it as a group. They noticed the students who are benefiting from the student lunch program, which is free for the academic year 2020-21, and realized the need might be great. So all 39 players brought donations, according to D'Agostino.

"It’s remarkable how generous people really are," said Bob LaPorte, a volunteer at the pantry.

During the past six months there has been a growing demand for food donations he said.

"It’s really wonderful that the team made this donation to the pantry," LaPorte said. "We’re seeing more than 1,000 people who need food every month. Since the summer, our numbers have increased by 10 percent month over month. We expect that trend to continue."

To donate to the Chelmsford Food Pantry, visit www.chelmsfordfoodpantry.org or call (978) 746-6914.