When they aren’t busy taking on some of the top teams in the state or working hard in school, many VJW players are focusing their efforts on giving back to those in need.

One team in particular – the VJW ’00 Selects – have dedicated time and effort to help two local charities this holiday season. Head Coach Paul Sacco has led his team of players, coaches and parents on a mission this year to help Toys for Tots and Local Heroes.

Here is more information about these worthy causes.

Toys for Tots (www.toysfortots.com) is a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve which is dedicated to donating toys to parents who cannot afford to buy them gifts during the holidays.

Local Heroes (www.mass-localheroes.org), based out of Wilmington, takes great pride in assembling high-quality care packages for the local servicemen and servicewomen and their families. Unless directed by donor  100% of all donations received go directly to these local heroes.   

Recently, two of the VJW ’00 Select players - AJ McKearney and Jonah Carlson - brought the many donations to the Local Heroes office in Wilmington and were greeted by the organization’s president, Lou Cimaglia. He gave the players and their parents a tour of the facility and showed how each package was made by hand and with great care.

Congratulations to the VJW ’00 Select team and all of those who have taken time to give back during this holiday season!

• Peter Barry
• Jonah Carlson
• Robbie Carpentier
• Will Connolly
• Gordon Cummings
• Matthew Farrell
• Trevor Gallo
• Alex Graves
• Frankie Kearney
• Erin Kelley
• Patrick Mahoney
• AJ McKearney
• Sam Paci
• Zach Papapetros
• Cameron Sacco
• Matthew Taylor
• Head Coach Paul Sacco
• Assistant Coach Dave Carlson
• Assistant Coach Rob Carpentier