COLUMBIA (WACH) -- Gymnastics is a way of life for the girls on Columbia Gymnastics' Academy Aerials team. They spend nearly 20 hours a week on the beam and bars, however these gymnasts are finding time to help collect food for those in need.
"It feels good because we have all these privileges and we always have food on our table and some people don't," Said Cassidy Bulino.
"We know we need to help out the people in our community because we have lots of privileges," adds Gracelyn Metts.
Kerri Wikel coaches the team and while they rarely see the outside of the gym, the coaches teach them more than a proper dismount. They take advantage of the long hours to prepare these girls for what lies ahead in life.
"Teach a lot of life lessons respect, commitment and determination along with just the sport. We're with them more than there parents so we want to instill some good values in them," says Wikel.
Wikel says after proposing the idea the team has spent hours working to bring donations into the gym. As athletes they naturally turned it into a competition.
They have two boxes for donatitions a Carolina and Clemson box and their excited to see which team gathers the most donations.
"I hope it's something they can look back on and know that they have contributed to their community and they took the time to do something for somebody less fortunate," adds Wikel.
The girls plan to donate the donations to Share your holiday to help the harvest Hope Food Bank.
Share Your Holiday is a public service campaign and outreach effort by WACH FOX, along with our other media partners, to benefit the Harvest Hope Food Bank in the Midlands, Florence and Greenville to aid in their fight against hunger. The Share Your Holiday Food Drive for Harvest Hope Food Bank began in 1998 and is now the state's largest annual food drive.
The goal of the campaign is to fill the food bank warehouses for the holidays and for the cold months ahead to benefit underprivileged families and individuals.
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