By La Salle Academy Healthy News reporters | “You can have fun while helping people,” said Mr. Shackleford Pena, seventh-grade teacher at La Salle Academy.
Mr. Shack, as students call him, volunteers with Soul Sisters & Soul Brothers Legacy Foundation. He said he helps the group organize a yearly kickball and dodgeball game to raise money for groups that help people dealing with cancer, depression, and suicide prevention.
Working with other people in our community can build stronger relationships with neighbors and better everyone’s physical, mental, and emotional health, said Dr. Tracy Brower, a sociologist and author. A sociologist studies how people interact with their communities.
“Our mental health and our physical health literally depend on being part of strong and capable communities,” she wrote in an article in Forbes magazine.
Mr. Shack said he joined Soul Sisters & Soul Brothers Legacy Foundation because he had cancer. Many members of the foundation joined because they know people who have had depression or other illnesses and they wanted to help.
The foundation hosts a dodgeball and kickball game every year, Mr. Shack said. The most recent tournaments were last June and July. The Covid-19 pandemic prevented the games for a couple of years, so that is why there were two tournaments in 2023. The last dodgeball game was at a Salvation Army and the kickball game was at Hancock Park. The locations and dates for the event each year change.
The foundation raises money through entry fees. Teams pay to play in the games. People who attend the event donate money, buy T-shirts, and purchase soda and food. The money collected covers the expenses for the event’s location, and then the rest goes to different charity organizations. “As you get older, I hope you can take all these lessons. Always think of ways you can help those in need,” Mr. Shack said. As we get older, we can support people with food or clothes. Teachers or students can help out. “I hope we can all get together and provide for each other,” he said.
Illustration by Aubree, fifth grade, Wm. Cramp E.S., 2023–24.
