'Smell the roses': Sipsey Valley football volunteers at Eagles' Wings 2024 May Day

When head football coach Joey Milligan first came to Sipsey Valley two years ago, he made it a goal to get his students involved in the community.

Whether it was having his students go to the elementary school on Fridays before football games in their uniforms to read to the students and open their car doors as they arrived to school, Milligan makes sure his students are involved.

"It's just an unwritten rule," Milligan said. "We want them to have community service hours and we encourage them to do community service in the summer.

"It just teaches them that one, life is more than football and two, life is more than just you. I think it's really helped our guys."

Last week, Milligan and a group of about 30 football players from Sipsey Valley volunteered at Eagles Wings' , a nonprofit organization that provides services for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities, along with adults that are medically fragile. Milligan and his team helped Eagles' Wings put on its second May Day, a field day of sorts, but what they call a fun day at Eagles' Wings.

"Coach Milligan is always about bettering the program," Sipsey Valley junior Westorn Meggs said. "It's not for us, it's for them. He had a meeting with some students and players that he thought could handle themselves and asked if we'd be interested it coming, and we all were like let's do it."

At May Day, activities ranged from jenga, bingo and musical chairs to snow cone, popcorn and face painting stations, one which coach Milligan got a football painted on his face. Eagles' Wings workers could be seen in their neon pink T-shirts with 'May Day 2024' on the back while the individuals that attended Eagles' Wings wore the same shirt, but in neon green.

It was Milligan's and the team's first time being involved with Eagles' Wings, but not Milligan's first-time hearing of the organization. A Tuscaloosa native and a special education teacher, Milligan was well aware of Eagles' Wings before volunteering. He has worked in special education for 30 years, and through his career, got to know of Joey Pike, the son of Sandra and Joey Pike.

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"We knew of Joey," Milligan said. "He has been a special person in the Tuscaloosa and Northport area for a long time. I guess you can say everybody knows Joey."

Sandra and Jerry Pike founded Eagles' Wings in 2005 and moved to their current site on U.S. Highway 82 west of Coker in 2013. Their son Joey is medically fragile, and when he turned 21, he could no longer attend the public school system. Hence, Eagles' Wings was created.

Now, Eagles's Wings has expanded much from its creation in 2005. It went from having an office in downtown Tuscaloosa to now having a facility sitting on 100 acres, Pike said. They have a greenhouse on site where they grow hydroponic lettuce — called Joey's finest lettuce — and deliver it to local restaurants, allowing individuals to earn a paycheck. They even have two homes on site for individuals to live in, with plans to build more. The next plan for Eagles' Wings is the building of stables to house horses for the therapeutic riding program.

Getting involved in the community and having people volunteer is nothing new for Eagles' Wings. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pike's used to take a group of individuals from Eagles' Wings to sing at churches in Tuscaloosa and surrounding counties, something that was of high demand but they were unable to continue after the pandemic.

In the fall during football season, Pike said, they do tailgate parties. For Holidays, they do the same, having various parties depending on the season. Eagles' Wings also does numerous fundraisers throughout the year with live auctions and dinners to help raise money for the organization, as it relies heavily upon donations from the community.

"We are a partying a bunch around here," Pike said.

Having the Sipsey Valley football team volunteer, Pike said, is a win-win for both groups involved. It shows the students at Sipsey Valley not to take things for granted, and it allows the individuals at Eagles' Wings to be involved within the community.

"It's a win-win," Pike said. "It's good for his guys to interact with our guys and it's good for our guys to interact with his guys.

"Our guys love to interact with them and it's good for them to interact with our guys. Most of these guys, they take stuff for granted. Our guys, you can't take anything for granted. That's what I've always said about Joey, he's allowed us, my wife and my family and I, to smell the roses."

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: 'Smell the roses': Sipsey Valley football volunteers at Eagles' Wings 2024 May Day