University of Tennessee Athletics
Tennis Delivers Thanksgiving Meal
November 23, 2011 | Women's Tennis
Nov. 23, 2011
KNOXVILLE - Aces aren't the only thing the Lady Vol tennis team has served during the last month.
This Thanksgiving, in conjunction with a church based in Knoxville, the Lady Vols took it upon themselves to fill a basket with all of the holiday's necessities, and deliver it to a less fortunate family in the area.
"The opportunity to feed a family for Thanksgiving was extremely humbling because it makes you realize how fortunate we all are to live the lives we do, especially being on a scholarship at a top university," freshman Joanna Henderson said. "It makes you extremely grateful."
From a 15-pound turkey to mashed potatoes, stuffing, vegetables and much more, the tennis team spent Wednesday morning fulfilling Thanksgiving for a family that might not have celebrated one otherwise.
"They're a good group of girls," co-head coach Mike Patrick said. "We're fortunate enough to be able to do something like that and it's the least we can do."
The Lady Vols' initiative capped a week of giving back, after the team participated in the Student Athlete Advisory Committee-led Thanksgiving dinner, in which UT student-athletes from across several sports fed around 100 local homeless at the Varsity Inn inside Gibbs Hall.
"As athletes, we're in the spotlight a lot," senior Natalie Pluskota said. "Any chance that we can give back to a community that supports us is always exciting."
While the fall season provided a promising outlook on the court, the team's impact off of it looks just as assuring.
"The feeling of helping someone else is better than any feeling you can have," sophomore Brynn Boren said. "You could see how grateful the family was and it just encourages us to do more."
