On Sept. 10, Sidwell’s football team hosted a car wash to fundraise for the NFL’s Crucial Catch, a movement that works to fight cancer and inform people of the disease’s disproportionate impact on under-resourced communities.

Head Football Coach Donald Davis explained the team’s goals for the car wash and his experience working with players to organize the event.

“We were really excited just about doing anything. Whatever we did, we were trying to do something positive for somebody else,” Davis said. “[The team] wanted to help somebody, somehow. Even if it’s just in the smallest way possible,” he added.

The team first began preparing for the car wash and partnered with Crucial Catch at the beginning of the football season.

“Once we started getting closer to the car wash, everyone started getting pretty excited for it; we held a bake sale during the school day Friday that parents set up and, thanks to a lot of parents and coaches we were able to set up the car wash on Saturday,” said senior Jackson Keyser.

Keyser also spoke on what it was like collaborating with the team to help set up and run the car wash.

“I think the team as a whole had a lot of fun with it, especially when we were able to get an Amazon delivery truck to stop by for a wash,” Keyser said. “Knowing that the proceeds go to a good cause is just extremely meaningful to me and the team as well,” he continued.

With the entire football program’s motivation and support, the team managed to surpass its goal in donations.

Davis shared that the team did not set a large monetary goal, as its priority was to raise awareness for childhood cancer.

“There are young people fighting stuff that young people shouldn’t even be thinking about,” Davis said.

In the future, the football team hopes to shift its focus toward promoting education in low-income communities by working with underprivileged schools.