N.C. State football player helping to raise funds in hometown
One N.C. State football player is doing his part to help families in his hometown get through this COVID-19 pandemic.
Trenton Gill, a punter for the Wolfpack, decided it was time for him to step up and reach out for assistance for the town of Hillsborough. Gill, working along with the Orange Congregations in Mission, is raising money to purchase gift certificates from local restaurants for people in need of meals.
The redshirt junior played high school football at Cedar Ridge High School in Hillsborough.
Gill posted the message, along with the GoFundMe link, on his Twitter account Thursday morning.
When Gill returned home to Hillsborough he saw a lot of businesses and restaurants closing, which led to employees being laid off. He also noticed that a lot of the food banks were starting to run low, so he came up with an idea to help the food banks and the residents in need.
“I realized I could do a win-win situation with both of them,” Gill told the N&O in a phone interview on Thursday. “I could help raise money to (for) those restaurants and businesses and help those people keep their jobs and I could also use the money to get food for the people that need it the most.”
Whenever Gill visited a local restaurant in Hillsborough he noticed that the number of customers (even picking up to-go orders) was low and a lot of the time it was just one staff member working. That gave him the impression that things weren’t going too well for the business. He also wants to make sure families are taken care of. He has partnered with Orange Congregations in Mission, who also have a food bank, helping Gill figure out how to get the meals to people who need it the most.
As of Thursday afternoon, Gill had raised almost $400 that will go towards feeding people in Hillsborough. He did clear things up with the N.C. State compliance office before posting the GoFundMe link. Gill didn’t have a timeline for how long he wanted the fundraiser to last.
“I just want to keep helping out anyway I can,” Gill said. “Just continue doing this, hopefully that will do it. But I will continue to do it until the need is gone.”
Gill doesn’t know anyone personally who has tested positive for COVID-19, but he knows his area has been hit hard. According to the NCDHHS website, there were 199 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Orange County, along with eight deaths as of Thursday afternoon. Earlier this week it was reported that multiple staff members in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School system have tested positive for COVID-19.
