Bell boys basketball dishes Christmas for underprivileged families

For L.D. Bell boys basketball coach Willie Henderson and his team, winning means more than emerging from a game triumphant.

Thanks to folks like Henderson and the Blue Raiders, underprivileged families throughout the Hurst-Euless-Bedford area can enjoy Christmas.

For years, Henderson and his varsity and junior varsity teams have been working with an HEB organization called Christmas Providers. The team adopts a family and raises money to help them have a nice holiday season.

“What’s so cool about is we have so many kids here at Bell who don’t have a lot themselves, yet when we put that shoebox, out they give,” said Henderson.

Beginning in mid-December, Henderson sets a shoebox in the locker room each day. As they pass by, players put whatever they can it. Then, a few days before Christmas, they deliver gifts and some dinner goodies to families.

“We always seem to have plenty of money,” Henderson said.

This year the team adopted three families which include seven children at the junior high and high school level.

Henderson said Christmas Providers gives each family a box of non-perishable food items and a gift card. The team provides the Christmas dinner main course and gifts.

“I always call up and ask if they want turkey or ham,” Henderson said. “And we usually get everything on their list.”

Henderson said the annual event has always just seemed like the right thing to do.

“I’ve always felt like people who have more than they need should adopt a family,” he said. “My wife and I have five children and they’ve never wanted for anything. Every one of them has been involved in this over the years.”

In fact, his wife and daughters gather up the gifts and handle the wrapping. Then, he and the players load them up and deliver them.

“We knock on the door and when they open, they think it’s just a few of us coming, but we squeeze us all into that apartment or house, no matter how small,” he said.

“Every once in a while we’ll have somebody bust out and start singing. It’s funny to hear all those basketball players sing ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas.’”

One year the basketball team even adopted a couple of its own players, Henderson said.

“In 2009 we had two players who were really in need. One road his skateboard everywhere, and another kid was declared homeless by the state,” Henderson said.

One boy, though homeless, had a job at the airport and a vehicle. However, he couldn’t afford insurance. The other needed a more reliable and safer way to get around.

“The team said, ‘Hey Coach, why don’t we adopt our own players?’” Henderson said. “So we did. We found a used car for about a thousand bucks and got the other kid six months’ insurance.”

Henderson said the annual project is not only beneficial to the families, but also to his players, and even after all these years to himself and his family.

“In the past we’ve seen some of our varsity kids cry,” he said. “It sends a message of what Christmas is all about. It’s a blessing to everybody involved. It’s nothing you want to brag about. You just do it, and everybody feels good.”

This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 9:57 AM with the headline "Bell boys basketball dishes Christmas for underprivileged families."