Real Pop Warner Victory? Helping Those in Need

By Nick Mallard, Sentinel and Enterprise, Fitchburg, Mass.

Nov. 2--LEOMINSTER -- With 23 cities and towns visiting Leominster for the Pop Warner Mitey Mite Bowl Sunday, it would be easy to focus on a wonderful afternoon of football.

However, those in attendance at Fournier Memorial Park saw something far greater than a day of youth football.

The Leominster Pop Warner organization put together a food-and-clothing drive to benefit Ginny's Thrift Shop in Leominster in conjunction with the Mitey Mite Bowl. The result was an outpouring of support from the city and dozens of other communities, with Leominster thrift store, which helps families in need, coming away with a truck full of clothing and nonperishable goods.

"It was an idea a small group of us came up with during the last meeting of the season," volunteer Daniel Troche said. "We thought it would be nice to give back to a place that has helped so many people."

The idea came together in less than three weeks, with many of the teams chipping in and bringing goods to donate.

"We have a team from Boston here today, and they brought some stuff," Troche said. "We sent out fliers to all the teams that were coming, and they were all very receptive to it. It's not just a Leominster thing, it's a Pop Warner thing."

"We thought it would be a good thing to do this year, especially with the hit the economy took," Leominster team mom Lindsey English said. "We have people bringing food and clothes. We know a lot of people are out of work and turning to donation

places."

As to why they chose Ginny's to receive the donations, English said that the store has been around for a long time and has helped many people, herself included.

"Ginny's has been around for quite a long time. (Owner Ginny White's) motto is 'Giving a hand up, not a handout.' It's a local business that really makes a difference in the community," English said. "We had a huge outpouring with people bring food, coats, clothes. ... You name it, people brought it."

Following the conclusion of games, the Leominster and Fitchburg Mitey Mites teams helped load all the donations into a truck that would deliver the goods to Ginny's.

"This is absolutely awesome," White said after the event. "Kids don't get enough credit for the good they do. I think it's great that they thought of my shop and the people who may need things. It's great and it was a big surprise when they told me they were doing this."

Troche -- who along with English and volunteer Julie Carter got the ball rolling on the food-drive idea -- said he had been helped out in years past and now that he was standing on solid ground, he thought it would be a good time to help out.

"We took Daniel's idea and just ran with it. It was a good chance to show the kids they can be part of something bigger than football," English said. "It was great to see how the community reacted. We have half a trailer full of donations.

"I had talked to Ginny early last week, and she said she had just gotten 5,000 pounds of food in. When I called her on Friday, she was down to 500 pounds. It just shows how quickly everything goes, so if we can help, it's great."

In addition to a successful food and clothing drive, the Mitey Mite Bowl ended with an exciting game between Leominster and Fitchburg in the Jake Bracani Bowl, named for the former Pop Warner president in Leominster who "was all about helping the kids," according to Leominster assistant coach and football director Eric Carter.

"It started out as the Jake Bracani Invitational in 2000, which Jake was around to see," Eric Carter said. "Unfortunately, he passed away the following year, but we've been carrying it on ever since in memory of him."

Fitchburg topped Leominster, 18-0, in the season-ending contest, though no score was kept on the scoreboard in tradition with Pop Warner play. Fitchburg's Domenic Valera was the hero for the visitors, scoring two touchdowns.

The event saw 23 teams attend, with teams from as far west as Holyoke and Chicopee and as far east as Boston attending to play in games throughout the day.

"It's a good way to end our season," Leominster Pop Warner President Jim Petkewich said. "It was a perfect way to close things out. We're proud of the effort everyone has put in here. The day is a great way to celebrate these kids and the work that put in. This is their day."

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