Lacrosse Team Gives Back

Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: February 3, 2008

Eight Lynchburg-area residents soon will have a bit more freedom.

Today, 43 players with the Lynchburg College men’s lacrosse team will finish building wheelchair-accessible ramps to eight homes.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to make a pretty big impact over the weekend,” said Steve Koudelka, head coach of the group.

The team is partnering with Rebuilding Together Lynchburg, a nonprofit volunteer organization, for the project.

The ramps will allow people in wheelchairs to stay in their homes by providing a way to get in and out of the house, said Sandy Walton, executive director of Rebuilding Together Lynchburg.

The ramps also help reduce residents’ risk of falling, which allows them to maintain independence in their daily lives, said Kathryn Pumphrey, executive vice president of the Centra Health Foundation.

“We feel like we are allowing people in the community to lead a more active life,” she said. “We think this will go a long way to helping people stay in their homes.”

The foundation gave Rebuilding Together a $5,000 grant now being used for the ramps and the construction of a main-floor bathroom for a woman who has trouble climbing the stairs to her second-floor bathroom.

Each of Koudelka’s eight senior players will lead several other teammates in the work at their designated home.

“They’re kind of divvying up the rosters based on what they need,” Koudelka said Friday. “I think they’re going in pretty wide-eyed. There’s a lot of work that’s going to go into it.”

“I always think that they definitely see things from a different light when they’re done. It’s always nice to be able to give back and not always take.”

Johnny Black is one of the senior house leaders on the team, which already has begun practicing for its first game Feb. 23.

Last year, the group helped build a Habitat for Humanity home, put on a lacrosse clinic for children, and worked at a carnival.

“Part of the process of being at LC is we always like to do as much community service as we can,” Black said. “I think the more that we go out in the community, the more support we’ll get when the season comes around.”