A lovely partnership was formed 18 years ago between Millbrook Magnet High School and Crossroads Fellowship in Raleigh, North Carolina. Every Friday before the Millbrook Wildcats football games, Crossroads Fellowship NC feeds the entire team and provides a motivational message.

I love feeding people, but teenage boys—especially football players—are a whole other level. But food is a wonderful point of connection, and a beautiful way to bond. Along with the message the young men receive, they not only get their bodies fed, but their souls and spirits as well.

Thus, why this partnership is worthy of a Feel-Good Friday spotlight.

Crossroads Fellowship NC even has a youth pastor dedicated to Millbrook High. SteveVon Lewis explains why this partnership is so important, and has maintained its strength over 18 years.

We’re right in this community, we’re the Millbrook Campus. It’s only right that we would feed the Millbrook High School which is like five minutes up the street from us. We’re not just a church that is just here in the community, but we are here to help them and be available to them in any aspect that we can actually provide hope and help.

Millbrook Magnet High School serves a little over 2,200 students, and is in the Top 30 percent of North Carolina schools. The student proficiencies in reading, math, and language arts are above 50 percent, which is higher than the state average. I would surmise that bodies and souls being fed can be correlated to student performance.

Youth Pastor Lewis also discussed how gathering together to eat and decompress before an intense event is not only about game performance, but life performance as well.

I think it’s awesome because honestly, you need that break. I used to be a student athlete as well, and sometimes you’re just always thinking about what’s next, the game, the playbook. But to have a break, just to eat and have fun helps you to decompress to get ready for the game.

But also to help you get ready for life too. Because it’s not about just playing on the field, but it’s about playing in life, and seeing how you use those characteristics to be a better person; not just for your family, but for the community and abroad.

Perhaps if more schools partnered with their faith communities to elevate, motivate, and be an available resource to the teenagers under their care, we would see more positive outcomes for the youth of our nation.