VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Classes at Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School start on Monday, which means the Crusaders football players have been hard at work.
However, this year, their focus is not just on their field, but also more than 400 miles away in Clendenin, West Virginia.
"It was sad, it looked like something out of a movie almost, all of their stuff was stripped out, it was sitting in a big pile," says Noah Knapp, a senior football player at Bishop Sullivan.
Knapp got to see the flooding devastation to Herbert Hoover High School firsthand, back in July. He took a trip there with his girlfriend and her family, who are from the area.
His teammates also got a glimpse when traveling back from a tournament in the state.
The flooding ruined Herbert Hoover football team's pads and weightlifting equipment, and also destroyed most of the school.
"I couldn't imagine what it would be like without facilities and stuff like that, stuff we take for granted," says Jake Low, a sophomore football player. "So as a team, we started brainstorming."
The team started small by collecting monetary donations. After just two days, they fundraised almost $600 which they used to buy gift cards.
Shortly after, the entire Bishop Sullivan community as a whole decided to jump on board and adopt the outreach as a community service program fro the entire school year.
"There's 2 to 3 people every single day asking, 'What else can I do? What else can I bring?'" says Chris Scott, head football coach. "So, that part is really exciting."
The school is still in their planning stages, but they have launched a GoFundMe page to jumpstart the outreach.
"They're going to overcome it," says Knapp. "And we're going to help them."
