Naperville North varsity football team seeks to help healthcare workers by holding a catering fundraiser

Ben+Kuefler+delivers+meals+from+Belgios+Catering+to+frontline+workers+at+Edwards+Hospital.+

Photo by Ben Kuefler

Ben Kuefler delivers meals from Belgio’s Catering to frontline workers at Edward’s Hospital.

The Naperville North football team has been coming up with new and creative ideas for helping out the Naperville community during the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

Started by junior Ben Kuefler, the team is supplying Edward’s Hospital with catered meals from Belgio’s Catering for frontline workers as they fight the novel coronavirus. The team has raised  $3,150 and are hoping to supply food for multiple shifts. 

Kuefler started this program to give back to the doctors, nurses and other employees at Edward’s working long and tiring shifts due to the ongoing pandemic. 

“We decided that during this time, raising money for healthcare workers would be our best bet [to help],” Kuefler said. 

Kuefler immediately got support from the rest of his team, who joined soon after the start of the initiative. Junior Adam Sturtz was among the first to start helping out. Sturtz believes that this program is the best thing that the team can do to be charitable while staying at home. 

“[We] as a team really just wanted to help out during this troubling time,” Sturtz said. 

This program wouldn’t have been completed without the intense teamwork that powered the implementation of the fundraiser, a fact that has been highlighted by Head Coach Sean Drendel. Drendel, who is not one to shy away from a killer pep talk, talks about how the team has made him proud and inspired him during the process. 

“[I’m] super proud of our players who took the initiative to start something like this,” Drendel said. 

Kuefler, Sturtz and the rest of the team delivered the meals on  Wednesday, May 13, while following proper safety and social distancing guidelines to make sure that everyone was safe during the process.