BLACKSBURG – Christmas doesn’t occur on the calendar for another six weeks, but the Virginia Tech football team already is in the holiday spirit.
The players and coaches took time after Thursday’s practice to pack small toys, school supplies and toiletries into shoeboxes as part of Operation Christmas Child. Samaritan’s Purse, a faith-based relief organization, sponsors the initiative and ships the shoeboxes to underprivileged children all over the world. Each Tech player and coach also slipped a handwritten note of encouragement into each shoebox.
“This means a lot,” Tech offensive tackle and team captain Jonathan McLaughlin said.