Thanks for giving

For some, the Thanksgiving holiday wouldn’t be the same without Grandma’s pumpkin pie or Aunt Sue’s cranberry relish. But not everyone has access to a family-made meal. For them, Skidmore baseball players and Coach Ron Plourde get busy a week before the actual day, joining volunteers at the Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council (EOC) to put together food baskets.

For several years now, the team has shown up on the Saturday before Thanksgiving at the New England Presbyterian Church in Saratoga Springs, where the EOC stages the basket preparation. Tables of food are stacked and waiting to be divided up for families ranging from two to 11 people. This year EOC had requests from 670 families throughout the county, said Lillian McCarthy, director of community services programs for the EOC.

Plourde encourages team support of this initiative as a way to “help the community and give back. It’s important for the team to see the value of voluntary service,” he said. (For Plourde, the EOC project is also family event: his wife, Jennifer, who teaches at Saratoga Springs High School, brings her biology students to the EOC on the Tuesday before the holiday to assist in handing out the food baskets.)

The team woke early for the EOC assignment following Friday’s “Kids’ Night Out,” a regular fundraising event hosted by the team. KNOs welcome children into Williamson Sports Center for an evening of recreational fun under the guidance of baseball team members. The activity at KNOs is continuous, Plourde acknowledges, adding that one of his athletes told him “sleep is for the weak.”

There were no complaints from the group on hand Saturday morning. Pitcher Spencer Anderson ’19 of Boston said, “This is a great way to bond with the guys and help the Saratoga Springs community. It’s a lot of fun.”

Outfielder Steven Gilbert ’17 of Franklin, Mass., said, “I like doing this. It’s a great bonding experience. I’m proud to be able to help the community.”

The athletes were the muscle for Saturday’s operation—moving pallets and heavy cartons and bagging apples for each basket, among other assignments. They were also the face of a special connection between the EOC and the College. The wider Skidmore community has perennially supported the EOC’s “Adopt-a-Family” Thanksgiving program with funds raised at the annual Celebration Weekend 5K run-walk, which realized $408 this year, and with individual contributions. The Skidmore community was responsible for $8,100—almost 16 percent—of funds raised for this year’s Adopt-A-Family effort.

EOC’s McCarthy expressed gratitude for those who make the program a success. “We get volunteers from the State Employees Federal Credit Union, the RSVP program, the general population, and Skidmore. Our community is amazing. When they see a need, they come together. It’s beautiful.”