Though her senior season was cut short due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Northern Kentucky University softball player Morgan Glover is one of countless people across the globe who has taken the opportunity to spread good in a time of uncertainty.
The Indianapolis native recently started a food drive for her community to help those who are facing economic hardship due to the virus.
“Initially, me and my mom had seen that there was a need for nurses that needed meals delivered to the hospitals,” Glover said. “One of my friends had basically set up a food drive, and you could sign up and pick what day you wanted to deliver the food.
“But then we saw on the news all the people who had lost their jobs and really needed food, diapers, etc.”
Glover found an opportunity to help through a local food bank and started her own personal food drive, currently with a goal of raising $350, which would be an equivalent of 2,100 meals with the food bank’s ability to buy in bulk. “I felt like that amount would help me be able to make a difference. They said they’d rather have people donate money, because they can get so much more in bulk than we could go out and buy.”
But what was Glover’s motivation to take action? The first part to that answer is simple. Glover loves to help people and says that it drives her. Admittedly, she was not always so service-oriented, but that changed when she joined the NKU softball team.
“Coach (Kathryn) Gleason pushed us out of our shells and I’ve always enjoyed working with kids, but working with the Reds RBI Academy and Team IMPACT really just changed my heart,” Glover said.
As far as the second part of why Glover is starting the food drive, that reason is much more personal. In the earlier days of the country’s introduction to the virus, Glover had a close family member fall extremely ill.
While that member was unable to get tested as the screening guidelines at the time required the individual to have either been in contact with a confirmed case or to have recently been abroad, Glover says that they had all the symptoms of COVID-19.
“It was three weeks of agony, helping them and trying to stay safe at the same time,” she recalled. “A lot of people believe that the coronavirus is a myth, but it is not. It is real, it is dangerous and it is scary. It’s horrible seeing someone fighting for their life, no matter how healthy they are.”
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Thankfully, her family member is fully recovered. After the ordeal, Glover said to herself, “God is go good. So we have to spread our joy in this time of pain and agony for other people.”
Even after life has somewhat stabilized, Glover intends to continue making an effort to help those around her. She’s using the fundraiser to see how many people will participate and evaluate how she can make an impact in the future, whether it’s continuing with fundraisers or going out and serving her community in person.
She also hopes to spread more word about how impactful donations can be, and that even a person who has a few dollars to spare can make a tremendous difference.
As a marketing major, Glover learned that “when you want people to know the facts, you should state the facts,” and plans to use her platform on social media to let others know exactly what she wants to do and inform them of ways to help if they have the chance.
From NKU Athletics Communications