Plant players carry on tradition of giving

Posted Nov 23, 2011 by Katherine Smith

Updated Nov 23, 2011 at 03:35 PM

Thanksgiving will take on a new meaning when Plant center Jonathan Haney gathers around the table with his family on Thursday.

A Panthers tradition of delivering food to various Tampa families on Wednesday opened Haney’s eyes and made him realize how truly blessed he is.

“Sitting around the table this year, I’ll definitely keep those families in mind as well as all the others that are less fortunate,’’ Haney said. “I’ll make sure we pray for them at the table for sure.’’

Haney and the other Plant captains, Daniel Casselli, Antonio Crawford, James Few, Drew Madhu, Tate Rogers and Patrick Wright, met at the team’s fieldhouse Wednesday morning to pack up four boxes full of food, enough to provide a full Thanksgiving meal, including the turkey. Players had been bringing in can goods and various other food items all week for the families.

The generosity included an envelope filled with more than $100 in gift cards to local grocery stores for each of the four families.

Coach Robert Weiner began the holiday tradition 24 years ago when he was an assistant at Jesuit and carried it over to Plant when he became the head coach in 2004. He’s delivered food to the same two families and has gotten to know them so well, he’s watched their children and grandchildren grow up.

One of the family members told Weiner she saw him on TV during a recent Plant game. She noted how mad he got on the sideline. That drew some loud laughs from the players.

“Seeing some of their reactions and the way they were talking to us, the smiles on their faces and talking about family coming over, it was really nice to see that we could help someone out this year,’’ Haney said.

The last stop on Wednesday’s tour was the River of Grace Ministries, a Tampa outreach program for the homeless and a place where Weiner volunteers his time throughout the year. River of Grace will feed approximately 500 people on Thanksgiving Day, so the food the Plant players provided was greatly appreciated.

“We never want to take for granted all the wonderful things we have and part of the way to not do that is to reach out to people who don’t have those blessings and resources we do,’’ Weiner said. “It’s a priceless Thanksgiving blessing to see how the players take in the experience and their recognition of how just the smallest things can help other people.

“These people have become a part of our Plant family and we’re just doing what families do – helping each other out. But for as little as we help them, they probably help us much more. My Thanksgiving would be incomplete without going to visit the families.’’