Women’s Basketball Donates to Local Food Bank

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The Northern Arizona women’s basketball team is helping out in the Flagstaff community with a contribution to the Northern Arizona Food Bank. The Lumberjacks raised funds at their annual Thanksgiving Classic earlier this year and presented their donation on Tuesday.

“I am proud that our athletic department would allow us to give free admission and collect food for the Flagstaff community,” said women’s head basketball coach Laurie Kelly. “Our athletic director, Jim Fallis, has made community service a huge focus in our athletic department. It is a great opportunity for our players who are very fortunate to give back to those that are less fortunate.”

The women’s basketball team is active in community service work and several student-athletes plan to donate their time in addition to the funds raised in November.

“We cannot do what we do without three things: food, funds, and volunteers,” said Northern Arizona Food Bank executive director Kerry Ketchum. “If we have those in sufficient quantity we are able to make a big difference.”

For NAU athletics and the women’s basketball team to come out and support us is huge. One person can make a difference. A group of people can make a bigger difference. A community can make even a larger difference. We are a community-supported food bank and have been for 23 years, but we cannot do it alone. It is absolutely tremendous for [the women’s basketball team] to donate monetarily.”

The Northern Arizona Food Bank's mission is to transport, store, and distribute food and commodities to thousands of Arizona's most impoverished individuals and be a positive presence across Northern Arizona and the Southwest. The food bank services communities throughout the Arizona region including Flagstaff, Sedona, Prescott Valley, Kingman, Needles, Calif., Page, Snowflake, and many other cities.