On Saturday, April 6 at Christian Fellowship Church, volunteers from The Intersection hosted a dodgeball tournament.
This dodgeball tournament is an annual event that Rock Bridge Reaches Out volunteers set up as a fundraiser for The Intersection. The intersection is an after-school program that serves at-risk youth ages 5-18, and meets every day. Those who go to The Intersection are able to get help with homework and eat a hot meal while participating in activities and games organized by the leaders and volunteers.
Senior Stephen Turban first began volunteering at The Intersection two years ago, and has been a dedicated leader of volunteers for the organization. Turban founded the core group for RBRO in order for students to interact with kids in the community and said he hopes the tournament will raise enough money to provide fresh fruit to the children for the rest of the year.
“The tournament… is great way to raise money for the intersection and to interest potential volunteers,” Turban said. “The Intersection has given me and the volunteers so much, and has defined my past two years at Rock Bridge.”
The Intersection has served over 300 children within Columbia over the past ten years, and the volunteers of RBRO have donated over 2000 hours of service throughout the past three years. The participants in the dodgeball tournament included current volunteers for The Intersection as well as faculty and students from the community at-large. Sophomore Betsy Poehlman has never volunteered at The Intersection, but was optimistic about the tournament.
Like Turban, sophomore C.J. Phillips is passionate about the mission of The Intersection. Phillips said he tries to volunteer once or twice a week, and will be a core-leader for the organization next year. Phillips said he is looking forward to seeing various students compete on behalf of The Intersection.
“I’m just really excited that you can only get hit once in dodgeball,” Phillips said. “But really, I’m excited to play for The Intersection and raise money. We could really use the money to just improve the place.
By Julia Schaller
