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Charity Basketball Game at Wheeling Jesuit University Will Help Feed Hungry

Proceeds from the North Wheeling Youth Center’s 4th annual Thanksgiving Ohio Valley All-Stars Charity Basketball Game will be used to help feed families in need at this year’s Thanksgiving Food Basket Giveaway in North Wheeling.

The Rev. Darrell Cummings, senior pastor of the Bethlehem Apostolic Temple, made the announcement during a Wednesday morning press conference at the North Wheeling church. Cummings, along with Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott and West Virginia Senate Majority Leader Ryan Ferns, R-Ohio, spoke about the details and the importance of the annual charity basketball tournament that is scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 7, at Wheeling Jesuit University’s McDonough Center.

With the holiday season fast approaching, Cummings and the ministries of the Bethlehem Temple are focusing their attention on how they can serve those in need of food items for a Thanksgiving meal.

Cummings said nearly two dozen Ohio Valley “all-stars” and celebrities are scheduled to participate on the Ohio Valley All-Stars squad, which will play against a national traveling “flight squad” team that travels for charitable causes. He said anyone attending the game is asked to bring a canned good or other non-perishable food item donation at the Thanksgiving Food Basket Giveaway. He said proceeds from the event will be used to purchase turkeys and other food items.

“The whole purpose of it is to help feed the hungry,” Cummings said. “For the last 28 years, we’ve been blessed to do our Thanksgiving Food Basket Giveaway, and it has grown from a dozen people to several hundred people … and this basketball game helps us to be able to feed more people.”

Following Cummings’ announcement, Elliott thanked him for being a “stalwart” in the local community.

“I played basketball in high school but I haven’t played a lot since,” Elliott said. “It’s fun to dust off the rust a little bit and get out there on the court. But it’s not really about basketball. It’s about bringing people together in the community for a good cause.”

Ferns also took time to praise the efforts of Cummings and those involved with both the charity game and food drive.

“This is a fantastic event. … On one hand it’s unfortunate that we have such a great need here in the Ohio Valley for food around the holidays, but we have a lot to be grateful for — people like Rev. Cummings and his church and all the people that support this event,” Ferns said.

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