Starting at 3:30 p.m. on football gamedays, the Oglethorpe County High School cafeteria is filled with teenagers breaking bread and enjoying each other’s company.
For winless Oglethorpe County, the football season hasn’t exactly gone to plan. In an adversity-filled season, the mood of the team in this room reflects the opposite.
Jokes and laughter fill each table, coach Mike Holland’s voice booms over the cafeteria’s sound system and morale is high. With full plates, players unwind after a long week and begin to focus on the competition that lies four hours ahead.
For years now, members of the Oglethorpe County community, prominently local churches, have been donating meals to feed the Patriots before games. In a world where budgets for shoulder pads and helmets are tight, leaning on the community to provide team meals “has been a blessing,” Holland said.
“The local churches around here have done a tremendous amount to help us out,” he said. “They’ve been willing to help us whenever they can, and however we need help, so I mean they really have a heart for kids.”
Mt. Pleasant Community Church, Lexington Baptist Church, Grove Chapel Church, Sandy Cross Baptist Church and Connection Church Athens have been the team’s most consistent contributors, Holland said. Often, food is accompanied by a pastor who says a devotional prayer.
“It just shows how much they care, and they still appreciate us no matter how our record is,” freshman wide receiver Landon Evans said. “They’re trying to be there, show people who aren’t close to God and lead them to God more.”
And it’s not only churches who pitch in: Support has come from various corners of the community. Last Friday’s meal was sponsored by the East Georgia Cancer Coalition, a UGA-based cancer prevention and early-detection center.
Katie Huff, mother of sophomore offensive lineman Jake Huff, has been tasked with organizing team meals this season. Without many restaurants in the county to rely on, Huff praised the community for its continued support of young athletes.
“I’ve been in contact with some other football programs, and they sponsor different restaurants in Athens, but we don’t have that here,” she said. “We depend on the people in the community. We reach out to see who’s willing and able.”
For Huff, the process to nail down a season’s worth of pregame meals begins far ahead of time. Once the fall schedule is released, she begins her hunt for sponsors who can feed over 60 athletes.
“If anyone is looking to help with football meals in the future, we usually have our fall schedule in the springtime,” Huff said. “So after we have our first spring football meeting, I will be reaching out to the community to see who would like to participate in pregame meals.”