Members of a Norwin middle school basketball team took their final day of Thanksgiving break to bring holiday cheer to residents in the Bethlen Home assisted living facility in Ligonier Township.
Ava Reichl, one of nine players on the team, came up with the idea. She wanted to do something special for her great-grandmother, who lives in the home.
The girls assembled gift bags for all 75 residents and loaded them for personal delivery.
“My grandma was so sweet,” said Ashley Reichl, Ava’s mother. “She was waiting at the door for us and she was so happy and so proud they were all there.”
The girls delivered gift bags to residents — stuffed with Christmas socks, hand sanitizer, lip balms, lotion, colored pencils and Christmas-themed coloring books — and popcorn tins to the Bethlen Home staff before assisting residents with a game of bingo.
“I think at first they were a little bit nervous and apprehensive, because it’s a totally different setting than they’re used to,” Reichl said. “Each one of them, I was just so amazed, they had so much patience. They loved talking to all of the residents.”
The team has competed together through the Westmoreland Athletics and Recreation league for about three years, Reichl said. They will compete in the statewide youth basketball championships in State College in March.
“They’re a really good group of girls, on and off the court,” Reichl said.
Coach Mike Palaschak was all for supporting the Bethlen Home residents.
“It makes their spirits,” said Palaschak, operating director of senior in-home care services company Cornerstone Caregiving.
“When a resident sees a bunch of young kids come in and thank them for all the years of service they put into this great country,” he said, “it seems like the next generation is going to be OK.”
Palaschak said he would like to start a similar charitable effort with his Norwin High School boys volleyball and Westmoreland County Community College girls volleyball teams.
Reichl hopes this becomes an annual tradition for the team.
“I really hope it’s something we do carry forward,” she said.