The following was written by Eric Brever
of New Prague.
John-
Wanted to make you aware of a pretty cool experience
as part of New Prague’s homecoming football game this past Friday against
Northfield.
About two weeks ago, Mason Decker, an eighth-grade
student at New Prague Middle School and the child of two beloved faculty
members in the New Prague school district, was diagnosed with a form of
non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Mason was involved in track, basketball and
football for the Trojan middle school programs.
Since Mason is a member of the football family, the
New Prague football program early last week decided to coordinate a fundraiser
to benefit the Deckers. Partnering with a number of ISD 721 staff members who
volunteered their time, and working with the basketball, track and hockey
programs at the high school, the football program put out word about the
intention to benefit at Friday’s homecoming game by selling surplus athletic
t-shirts from football, basketball and hockey programs, with all proceeds—along
with free-will donations—to go to Mason and his family.
New Prague High School students were motivated, making
small donations in their own right and dedicating their spirit garb for the evening
to be green instead of school colors cardinal and black, as lime green is the
color of support for lymphoma cancers. As the Trojan football took the
field on Friday, it was amazing to see the student half of the New Prague
bleachers be entirely green.
But what was particularly impressive was the
Northfield bleachers, as their student section also came dressed in green, and
rolled out a giant sign across their bleachers: “No one fights alone-
#MasonStrong.” The Raiders coaching staff walked over to Trojan head coach Jake
Norby and handed a donation and a card for the Mason benefit. They stood right
with us in the initiative.
It shows that two neighboring communities who have
played countless rivalry games against one another come together when it
counts. It transcended the game. It brought tears to the eyes of the
staff who worked hard to organize the event on short notice.
That night alone we raised more than $8,500 for
Mason’s benefit.
The Trojans had more points on the scoreboard that
night, but the real winners were Mason and the Decker family and the two
communities that came together to support the cause.
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