Sachem cheer squad raises more than $20,000 for front-line workers
The Sachem 11 cheerleading team is making a difference in the lives of health care workers, law enforcement employees and Long Island restaurant servers — and it all started with a bake sale.
“On March 28, a bunch of the girls decided they wanted to start a bake sale to raise some money to send lunch to a few nurses [at Mather Hospital in Port Jefferson and Saint Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown] who are very close to our team,” says Lindsey Kolb of Ronkonkoma, a team mom and one of the head coaches. “With the help of all the girls’ parents posting on social media, we quickly realized this was going to be much bigger than we anticipated.”
Six weeks into their fundraising efforts, Kolb says more than $20,000 has been raised toward food donations serving a combined 3,300 people working in 34 different hospitals and medical facilities, as well as NYPD precincts and the Suffolk County 911 Call Center. It's all through the efforts of the Sachem 11s — the “11” referring to the ages of most of the squad members.
“Our team is made up of 29, 10- and 11-year-old girls,” Kolb points out, as she gives them full credit for creating this fundraising and food-making push that is gaining national recognition.
The team is receiving requests from people looking to give to front-line health care workers and police officers. The girls, with help from their parents, are doing all the baking in their home kitchens. Items they have baked include cookies, brownies and crumb cakes. Items are paid for through Venmo and delivered.
"I can't believe how big it's gotten," says Sachem 11 squad member Alexa O’Neill. The 11-year-old Ronkonkoma native says it's not hard at all to do. "The people who are getting this food are working on the front lines, away from their families … I'm sure they don't always get a chance to eat, so it's worth it."
The group says that the money raised through the bake sales has been used to purchase food from Mangiamo Restaurant in Ronkonkoma. “We have been dealing with the owner, who has been amazing to us,” says Kolb.
"I've obviously had to close the restaurant portion of my business," says Mangiamo owner Mike Bassani. "But what they're bringing here, it's helping out tremendously, it's keeping my employees here."
A Sachem alumnus, Bassani says the Sachem 11 team was already coming in as customers, but now they're bringing him requests for food for health care workers, which his eatery cooks and then delivers to whichever hospital or facility is designated. "Sometimes, it's two or three orders in a day, sometimes three or four … they are rocking and rolling," Bassani notes, "and they even put in thank you cards. The girls are going above and beyond. It's a win-win situation for everybody."
Some of those health care facilities that have accepted the deliveries include Stony Brook University Hospital, Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Islip, North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, Northport VA Medical Center and three NYPD precincts, among others.
Then came a tall cookie order, as Kolb explains: “Just this past week, we were asked by a nurse who is here on a deployment working in NYC hospitals from Washington state to help her with a huge project.” The project was to get homemade cookies and baked goods to about 600 out-of-state nurses staying at a Manhattan hotel. “These little girls baked their hearts out and we hand-delivered 1,955 cookies to the Sheraton hotel in Manhattan the next day.”
Since starting the Sachem 11 cheerleading "Feed Our Heroes” effort, the squad has received media attention, including a May 11 interview on the NBC network’s “Today” morning show and a citation of appreciation from Suffolk County Legislator Anthony Piccirillo. However, it’s not lost on Kolb that this is not where these girls expected to be at this time.
“Sadly, our team is made up of mostly fifth graders who should be experiencing all the fun things as they celebrate their last year of elementary school,” notes their coach. “They miss their friends terribly and hate not being together … Our cheer season starts in July and the thought of it possibly not happening is so sad for them.”
"It's kind of sad," agrees 11-year-old Makayla Rimmer of Ronkonkoma, another member of the squad who says the team stays in touch through FaceTime. "It is cool that we're on the news," she says, "and some of the health care workers who got food have sent us photos back to thank us … It makes me feel pretty proud about what we're doing."
As Kolb sees it, the girls of the Sachem 11 team may be facing a year without cheer but, “this is giving them something to be proud of and will be something they can remember forever.”
Newsday's Gregg Sarra talks high school sports on Long Island. SARRA SOUNDS OFF: Newsday's Gregg Sarra hosts a new show covering the latest in high school sports on Long Island.
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Newsday's Gregg Sarra talks high school sports on Long Island. SARRA SOUNDS OFF: Newsday's Gregg Sarra hosts a new show covering the latest in high school sports on Long Island.