Ocracoke Student Raises $1700 to Fight Hunger
The End of the Hunger Games 3-on-3 Tournament took place on Friday afternoon, and raised $1700 for the Food Bank of the Albemarle.
The Tournament fundraiser serves as Matteus's senior project, a requirement for all NC high School graduates. His project mentor was Scott McNally, who also competed in the tournament.
His team was three Ocracoke Dolphins basketball coaches – Scott, Adam Burleson, and Bill Evans. The three went up against a team of younger players (Darvin Contreras, Colby Austin, and Blackburn Warner) in the first round, and the old guys won. Because it was a double-elimination tournament, the two teams met each other again for the championship. This time around Scott, Adam, and Bill weren't so lucky. The younger team had to beat the coaches twice in a row to win the title, and they did! Congrats, boys!
Winning teams were: Men's: Darvin Contreras, Colby Austin, and Blackburn Warner; Women's: Sydney Austin, Vanessa Lora, and Bricia Moreno; Youth: Edwin Perez, Jackson Strange, and Jonathan Martinez. Congrats to the winners and many thanks to all the players, who each contributed $25 to be in the tournament. Two teams traveled from off the island to compete – one from Hatteras high school and one from First Flight high school. It was nice to see them showing their support for the project at a rival high school.
Edith Trejo, Lucila Uribe, and Antonia Ortiz donated their time to make and serve the delicious taquitos, tamales, and tostados. "They were cooking for a whole day to make this happen, and I'm so grateful," said Matteus's mom, Daniela Gilbert, who was helping with concessions.
Matteus sought sponsors for the event and received donations from SmacNally's Bar & Grill, Sorella's Pizza & Pasta, Gaffer's Sports Pub, Ocracoke Bar & Grille, and Flying Fish Ink (Platinum Sponsors); Tradewinds Tackle, and Greg & Eden Honeycutt (Gold Sponsors); and Ocracoke Variety Store and Ocracoke Coffee Co. (Silver Sponsors).
Special thanks go to Ocracoke School, school secretary Lisa Caswell, Coach Adam Burleson.
"Thank you for everyone that came out," Matteus said. "Hopefully, we can make this an annual event and help feed eastern North Carolina."
If anyone has good photos of the other winning teams, please send them to me at ocracokecurrent@gmail.com. Thanks!
