Support Servicemen, Vets This Weekend at ‘Touchdown for the Troops’

You can root for your hometown football teams while providing holiday cheer for troops stationed overseas this Sunday, as Romeoville Youth Football and Cheerleading hosts “Touchdown for the Troops.”

The event, slated to begin just after 10 a.m. at ’s Spartan Stadium, 100 N. Independence Blvd., will include a donation drive for Operation Support Our Troops, along with fundraisers for American Legion Post 52’s planned . When completed, the project will include a banquet facility, post home and veterans home, complete with a therapeutic component for returning soldiers.

Because the event coincides with the anniversary of 9/11, a special tribute ceremony will take place prior to the first of four football games at around 10:25 a.m., according to organizer Debbie Blum.

“We did plan on having it as close to the 11th as possible,” she said. Veterans, cadets and servicemen and women will be asked to make their way to the field for a special tribute, Blum said, “Because the troops are the ones still protecting us.”

Fans are asked to bring donations to help Operation Support Our Troops fill Christmas stockings for deployed servicemen and women this holiday season. From ornaments to CDs, DVDs and candy, the donations will help brighten the holidays for troops who are far from home. For a complete list of needed items, click here.

RYFC will also collect footballs to be shipped to troops as a way to pass the time and send well-wishes from home. Blum said donors are asked to grab a marker and jot a brief message on the footballs, which will be shipped overseas, along with air pumps donated by Walmart.

“We have a goal of collecting 100 footballs,” Blum said.

The youth football organization is also donating $10 for every event sponsor to the Ray Holloway House fund, along with the proceeds from a 50/50 raffle.

Donations can be dropped off at Spartan Stadium all day Sunday. The first football game begins at 11 a.m., and the last ends at roughly 7 p.m., Blum said.

If you can’t make it Sunday, don’t worry — you can still do your part for the troops. Items can be donated for the Operation Support Our Troops Christmas stockings at the following locations:

• Romeoville branch
• Romeoville Recreation Center, 900 W. Romeo Road
• , 498 N. Weber Road