Friday Night Heroes
Area church members volunteer to relieve booster club parents from concessions duty
Story by Charlotte Smith
Their contributions won't be measured in touchdowns or interceptions, but a

Booster club parents working the Friday night concessions at Whitehouse football games will get a break this year, as five area churches have stepped up to provide volunteers. Each one of the churches will work a home game. From left are Dan Sala of Central Baptist Church, William and Sue Muller of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Karen Hopson of Whitehouse First Assembly of God, and Amy Culpepper, Ray Davis and Don Pardoe of Whitehouse First Baptist.

group of volunteers from area

churches will certainly be heroes of a unique variety this football season as they stand in for booster club parents and work the home concessions for varsity games.

That may not seem like a big deal to the average football fan, but for those moms and dads who are selling popcorn and cold drinks while their son scores a touchdown or their daughter completes the perfect twirling routine, it's nothing short of a blessing.

"We are really excited about it, helping free the parents to watch their kids and not be stuck wondering what happened," said Danny Copeland of Whitehouse First Assembly of God. "Growing up, I know my parents being able to see me ... that was one of the big things for them."

Volunteer Tom Caldwell of Whitehouse United Methodist Church is returning to service in the football concession stands. He served four years in the booster club when his daughter was a student.

About 25 volunteers from First Assembly will kick off the effort this Friday when Whitehouse hosts Sulphur Springs. The other churches participating are Whitehouse United Methodist Church, Sept. 28, Kilgore; First Baptist Church, Oct. 12, Pine Tree; Central Baptist Church, Oct. 19, Hallsville; and Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Nov. 9, Nacogdoches.

For the participating churches, the motivation to help the parents was matched by the opportunity for a different kind of community involvement.

"I think it's a great idea for churches to get involved. It's something we're willing to do as a ministry outreach, and we're just thrilled at the opportunity to do this," said Cathy Hughey, evangelism chair of WUMC. "We want to share the word anyway possible."

That goal of outreach and involvement fueled the concessions volunteer concept.

"I got the idea about a year ago, listening to a sermon from our pastor, Shawn Corzine," said Pleasant Hill Baptist church member Kevin Cashion. "He spoke on how we, the church, should be about giving back to the community. He challenged us to find ways to reach outside the walls of our building to show the love of Christ to others."

As president of the Whitehouse Athletic Booster Club, Cashion was in a unique position to see how the church's desire for more community involvement could help a situation that has existed for years.

With the help of other booster club members, he contacted area churches and proposed the idea. "I have been over whelmed with the responses and the positive feedback I have received from each one," he said. The churches also report they had no trouble filling their volunteer rosters.

William and Sue Muller of Pleasant Hill are two who will be helping out. The Mullers were involved in the formation of Whitehouse's athletic booster club and are no strangers to volunteering.

"We've done it all," said Sue. "We've worked the concessions, provided transport, we were here when they built the first concessions."

Like the Mullers, some of the other participants are former booster club parents, but there is no "typical" volunteer, said Copeland. "They run the gamut from teens to retirees," he said.

Booster club parents and volunteers are still manning the junior high/junior varsity football concessions, as well as volleyball and basketball. If all goes well, Cashion hopes that this year's novel approach to an old problem will soon be the norm.

"If the response is good, then I hope that this will become a tradition and build a strong relationship between our area churches and the school district," he said, adding that in answering the parents' prayers, the churches are just following God's calling ... giving to others.