WCU donates equipment to Haywood mission trip
When Western Carolina University alumnus Greg Boothroyd of Haywood County issued a call for donations of soccer equipment for a church mission trip to Jamaica, the women’s soccer program at his alma mater answered.
Boothroyd, a 1995 graduate of WCU and co-owner of the Smoky Mountain News in Waynesville, was assisting daughter Molly and other members of the Long’s Chapel United Methodist Church’s high school youth group in collecting soccer balls, jerseys and other items to donate to a children’s orphanage in the Jamaican town of Bamboo.
Between donations from the WCU soccer program and the local AYSO chapter, Boothroyd found himself with 42 soccer balls, eight pairs of goal gloves, four shin pads, eight pairs of shoes, four warm-up jackets, a long-sleeve goalie shirt, two large ball bags, two air pumps and 20 ball needs.
AYSO also provided 130 uniforms, each consisting of two different-colored shirts, a pair of shorts and two pairs of socks, while WCU contributed 56 Catamount soccer jerseys. Boothroyd also collected six totes to haul the equipment and $200 in cash contributions to help pay the cost of shipping the items to Jamaica.
