All 19 Cherry Hill schools faced off at the 2019 Volley for Support event on Friday, October 12. All of the town’s schools gathered to help the Cherry Hill food pantry raise awareness for the homeless.  This issue has been increasingly problematic this past year. The district’s participation raised both charity and excitement.  

Students purchased many tickets in order to help show their support for their school’s team. Marking the 15th annual year, the money raised and the excitement arisen proved the event to be a success. 

Endeavoring to help the victims of the tsunami, in 2005, six out of the nineteen schools, along with the Malberg Administration gathered to engage in the first ever Volley for Support tournament.  This was held at Carusi Middle School. Since the first year, the positive outcome of the event has continued to lure in students of all ages accompanied by their family and friends. The event is now held at Cherry Hill East allowing the tournament to have enough space to succeed.

Kim Redfearn, one of the founders of Volley for Support, said, “My husband and I started [Volley for Support] 15 years ago. It was an idea to get all the schools together for a good cause.  Every school makes a basket—elementary, middle and high—while the kids have the bouncy house, games, face painting and face tattoos. This event is the one time all the schools and families come together to support one cause.”

 The originality of the idea to sponsor an event, such as this one, is what makes Volley for Support a yearly event to look forward to. Volley for Support was promoted with an effort to raise money for the nation’s Red Cross.  Red Cross is a humanitarian organization that provides volunteers of their own to prevent and reduce the amount of suffering in both local areas and around the world. With several departments intended to relieve suffering, the foundation has offered a fundamental platform for Cherry Hill to arrange the volleyball tournament. Volley for Support has endorsed various causes throughout the years.  The people who run this tournament are hopeful that the baseline will encourage future awareness for several causes to come.  

Redfearn goes on to describe the significance of the people involved in enabling the event to take place. Without their dedication and commitment, the tournament would not be organized the way it is today.  This is a known event, thanks to all the hardworking members.  

Redfearn said, “Many schools know about this event, so they want to help out. I think it’s a community thing.  This is the one time that everyone from all 19 schools [can] to come together and help out.” 

With the participation of the community and the spread of word to donate to a good cause, this year’s tournament was a success.  Administrators of the event hope to continue this tradition in future years.