About 25 members of the Riverside-Brookfield High School girls soccer team got together for a couple of hours on Sunday to perform a random act of kindness. The team gathered at the home of team captain Ivy Marcucci to make handmade Valentine’s Day cards for residents of the Cantata Senior Living Community.
The activity was part of the kickoff of the National Random Acts of Kindness Week, which is sponsored by the PepsiCo Showdown, a large high school soccer tournament in which RBHS participates.
Each team in the tournament was invited to choose a random act of kindness to perform on Sunday. The RBHS soccer team decided to spread the love of Valentine’s Day.
“We knew we wanted to reach out to a group of people who maybe wouldn’t receive Valentines,” Marcucci said.
While most of the team gathered in Marcucci’s living and dining rooms making the cards out of construction paper, five others — Marcucci, Emily Graham, Claire Swiatak, Taylor Bitzer, and Taylor Kosiak — were in the kitchen baking chocolate chip cookies that they left for the Cantata staff during their visit to deliver the Valentine’s Day cards.
Team members showed off their creativity and artistic talent making the cards coming up with clever things to write and draw knowing that that their efforts might bring some joy to some elderly people who are often isolated and lonely.
“I just really like helping people out, because it’s good to serve and you feel really good after,” said freshman Mazzy Marcucci.
After making well over 100 Valentine’s cards five leaders of the team drove over to Cantata on Sunday afternoon. They handed out a few cards to a small group of surprised residents who were whiling away the afternoon playing Yahtzee or sitting in the lounge.
The girls then left the rest of their handmade cards at Cantata to be handed out later to residents.
“We’re doing a little team bonding, so it’s bringing us closer, but we’re also doing something for the community as well,” said senior Kathryn Sessler. “This is our first service project that we’ve done as group together.”
