Football isn’t just about receiving, but about giving back to the community.
The Saugus High School varsity football team is holding a food drive on Saturday, July 25, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. with all proceeds going toward the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry.
It is spearheaded by Ryker Wixom, 16, an incoming junior, who is both a receiver and linebacker. He said he realized that the team needed to make a stronger impact on the Santa Clarita community.
“I came up with the idea, and I asked the boys if they wanted to do it and they were really supportive of it. My dad and I were just talking, and we saw someone on Instagram do a food drive, and we were like: ‘Why don’t we do that? We should do that,’” Wixom said. “So I talked to the team, I talked to the coach to set it all up, and everyone was in. I wanted to be more part of the community — the entire team should be a part of the community. We should be together as a team not only on the field, but off the field as well.”
Wixom is planning on setting up the station in the Saugus High parking lot and hopes that Santa Clarita residents will stop by to donate canned food items.
“I’m having people bring out tables, and some people can’t come because they’re out of town, so they said they could bring their own donations to help. It’s been really nice to have the team help me out. If it wasn’t for them, this whole thing couldn’t have happened,” Wixom said. “I want people to know that Saugus is a great community, and we’re all a big family who should help each other out no matter what. Hopefully this becomes a new tradition.”
