The Warwick Police and Fire Departments lent a helping hand to Pilgrim junior football player Chace Roberts last weekend when they held a charity flag football game on his behalf.

Roberts recently fell ill with a sickness which was not initially known. He and his family later discovered that he suffered from an E.coli infection which hospitalized him.

He has since left the hospital and rejoined the team in their summer workouts, but is still recovering from the illness.

To raise funds, the Warwick Fire and Police played a flag football game up at Gorton Field on Saturday morning with all proceeds going toward the Roberts family. The event was organized in a week’s time, but still managed to raise over $1,500.

“The turnout exceeded the expectations that we had considering the short amount of time that we had to put the event together,” said Pilgrim head football coach Blake Simpson, who helped referee the game. “It wasn’t as much about our program as it was about the Warwick community in general. The help from the Warwick PAL family, being able to use Gordon as quick as we did, to have the Warwick Police and Fire Departments get on board right away. With everything that Chace’s parents have done for Warwick PAL, to see the entire Warwick community come together for a Chace and (his mother) Julie was awesome to see.”

The Pilgrim football team also hosted its second annual youth football camp last week at the high school, hosting 55 local youth players ranging from first to eighth grade. That number more than tripled from last year’s camp, and the Pilgrim program was thrilled to see so many youngsters sign up.

“It was awesome to see the numbers grow as much as they did in one year. It goes to show that kids want to be outside and play sports and that COVID is a little bit in the rearview mirror. Some of the coaches from Warwick PAL and even the Edgewood Eagles really pushed to have their kids sign up. With it taking place the week before the youth season starts, it gives kids the opportunity to wipe off the cobwebs,” said Simpson, who also hopes that the increase in participants will bode well for the future of the varsity program. “That’s what we’re hoping for; we’re hoping to get more kids.”