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Reminder Assistant Editor EAST LONGMEADOW The U14 East Longmeadow Spartans soccer team were considering using the funds they raised to participate in a tournament or take a team trip to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania. Instead, the team decided to donate the $1,500 they gathered to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Springfield. "We're kids and we wanted to help kids," team member Colleen Latsko explained. The Spartans raised the $1,500 through two fundraisers, a bottle drive and a spaghetti supper. This was the first year the team had hosted any fundraisers. "They're all going to be freshmen this year and this was their last time playing together," Coach Paul Mercieri said. "It was a team decision [to donate their funds]." The young women did more than donate the money to the orthopedic hospital, which treats bone and muscle deformities in children from around the world they also donated their time last Monday by playing games with some of the patients. Members of the team and Coach Mercieri spent their afternoon painting pictures, shooting pool and playing air hockey with some of the young patients in the hospital. Kirk Burkins, from the Melha Shriners Board of Governors, said the Springfield Shriners Hospital was the first hospital of its kind in New England, originally built in 1925. "The care is free of charge, thanks to people like you," he told the soccer team. The Spartans decided to earmark their donation for the hospital's wheelchair fund, which will be used to purchase new wheelchairs for the children that need them. | ||||||
