Jules Harvey, representing Feed My Starving Children in Warsaw, speaks to the Warsaw girls soccer program, which will help the program by taking food donations at the Oct. 1 soccer match against Northridge. (Photo provided by Peter Lucht)

WARSAW – The Warsaw girls soccer team has had a tremendous season on the pitch. In October, the team will have the opportunity to make a greater impact in their community.

The program will be taking donations for Feed My Starving Children, an initiative that collects food for starving families around the world. Specifically, the team will be collecting food donations Thursday, Oct. 1, during its home date with Northridge.

The soccer match itself is huge as Northridge and Warsaw both are in the hunt for the Northern Lakes Conference championship, but the opportunity to serve a greater good was a chance the team couldn’t pass up.

“I am incredibly blessed by God to coach this team,” began Warsaw girls soccer head coach Peter Lucht. “They are talented young ladies and we have been blessed with a tremendous season. But there is more to this group than just a bunch of young ladies that have soccer skills. The character that is inside the hearts of these young ladies is phenomenal.

“People of different backgrounds have come together as a strong group. They have loved each other well throughout the season – supporting each other through injuries and difficult times off the field. It is great to see that love now extend towards others, and I am excited to see the impact that this group of young ladies will have!”

Helping start off the initiative was student interest which turned into FMSC representative Jules Harvey speaking with the team on how to help. What became of the encounter has been a driven team ready to help.

“One of the great things about this is that it is not coach driven,” Lucht said. “One of our players, Dayle Harvey, approached me and asked if we as a team could participate in FMSC. Now we are going to take donations during the game and many of the girls/families are volunteering to work during the food packing as well.”

Feed My Starving Children packed over 1,000,000 meals in 2014, which helped feed people in Haiti, Uganda and Honduras. The national program, which has several cities in Indiana helping, will take place in Warsaw Oct. 14-17 at the Gordon Rec Center on the campus of Grace College. For more information on the Warsaw FMSC, visit http://www.warsawmobilepack.com/