Tanner Duckrey: A Saturday to remember
By Kainen Bell*
Photos by Playmakers Studio
It was a sunny Saturday filled with many activities, including preparing the community peace garden, painting a floor maze designed by local Philadelphia native and artist, and building four soccer goals to be used on the finished field.
From every walk of life, volunteers came to give back to the community during the project Build Day. They were local community youth service organizations (Youth Build & Temple ROTC), long-time activists, church leaders, university students, current students, and alums of Dr. Tanner G. Duckrey; residents who live within walking distance. Even youth who live in further neighborhoods, who heard the news of the project and wanted to give back.
One volunteer was returning from a grocery store and walked past the school and saw a team painting and asked, “Do you guys want some help?” and immediately started supporting.
Kids had the opportunity to learn how to play soccer through clinic activities led by Street Soccer USA and caring community members who wanted to share their passion for the game. For some kids, this was their first opportunity to play soccer in their lives, and for others, they were now able to play in their neighborhood school. Adults were captivated by their expressions of creativity, teamwork, and joy.
Kids as young as five years old were excited to hear that the soccer field was being built in their neighborhood and brought their parents to experience that with them. Youth had the opportunity to volunteer, participating in the gardening, schoolyard clean up, and painting.
A 9-year-old boy, participating in the painting activities, expressed how much fun and enjoyment he was having. Inspired by his chance to paint, he said: “My dream is to one day become a professional painter.” This day was beyond just soccer but helped reinforce values of giving back to your community, working together with people you do not know to accomplish a common goal, and celebrating your achievements as a team.
Donations of food came from all over that included coffee, cold beverages, water, snacks, sandwiches, and a local Jamaican restaurant that significantly discounted their products to help feed 150 hardworking adult and youth volunteers.
*Kainen is Development and Salesforce Coordinator at love.fútbol
The Tanner-Duckrey Project is part of a joint initiative by the Friends of Dr. Tanner G. Duckrey, the Pincus Family Foundation, love.fútbol, The Big SandBox, Street Soccer USA, Fountain of Youth Preventive Health Inc., and the School District of Philadelphia and various community members. It's dedicated to improving children’s lives and working with communities to reclaim and rebuild stimulating places for children to play and learn life skills.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony will happen on October 24th, to celebrate the pitch and all those who had a hand in its development, as well as to showcase the sports-based life skills development programming that will occur on the space going forward.
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