Chicago Bears Players Bring Joy to Scattered Town

WASHINGTON — Two weeks after the disastrous tornado struck the small city of Washington, Ill. there still wasn’t much to smile about. Yes there has been many generous donations, fundraisers have been formed and much support has been given nationwide. Even with all of that being a factor, homes were still gone, not much debris had been picked up, and millions of items were still missing.

But on a foggy Wednesday afternoon a little light shined in Washington, when a Chicago Charter bus made an unexpected visit to Washington Community High School. Out of the bus walked a sea of giant men all sporting bright orange Washington Panthers Football shirts. It was a group of Chicago Bears coming to show their support to the Washington Panthers football team along with the rest of the town.

The Washington Administration sent all of the students to the Torry Gymnasium where the Bears players held a short assembly. Afterwards the Bears players sat down and ate lunch with the members of the football team. They also were very courteous and welcome to photos and autographs.

After their meal the Bears players were offered a police escort into the Devonshire neighborhood where the most damage had taken place. As the players walked off of the bus into the flattened neighborhood that once used to be filled with beautiful homes and families, sadness struck their faces.

“You can’t get an understanding of the magnitude of the damage and the things that have happened until you see it in person. Anybody can tell you a story about hearing the whistles and the train, but until you are actually there and experiencing it you have no idea what it’s like,” Linebacker James Anderson said.

Some visitors just observe the damage and watch all of the construction workers clean the debris that had been scattered throughout the neighborhood. The Bears players, on the other hand, asked for a pair of gloves, grabbed a shovel and gave a helping hand in cleaning up the town.

“It was a collect thought by all of us to help out cleaning up when we saw all of these hard working men cleaning up the remaining pieces of the town. It wasn’t our initial plan to help clean up the town but after seeing it in person we wanted to do anything we could to help,” Punter Adam Podlesh said.

The organizer of the unexpected visit was Bears Kicker, Robbie Gould. He is the founder of “The Goulden Touch” a charity designed simply to help those in need after an accident. The idea is to balance the incredible importance of giving to others while also making charitable and giving fun.

“There is no better place to be than Washington, Ill. right now. For us as players and an organization we have raised around $210,000. As for my charity ‘The Goulden Touch,’ we have raised some extra money to give out gift cards while we are here,” Gould said.

Even though the Bears players were not in town very long they left a long lasting impression in the hearts of many residents. The thought was all that mattered to the members of the community, professional athletes taking time out of their busy schedule to help those in need. The donations the Bears brought will last for quite sometime, but the smiles that were brought to the faces of those who were affected will last forever.