Starks Academy Boys Build Snowmen to Build Smiles at Diamond Willow Assisted Living

Boys on the Basketball Team build snowmen for Assisted Living residents to view.

DULUTH, Minn.- As the popular song goes, “Do you wanna build a snowman?” Well the boys on the Starks Academy Northland Youth Basketball Alliance Team sure did, heading over to the East side to spread some snowy cheer.

“Using that snow which is giving some people some heartaches I can imagine, spread some holiday cheer and put some smiles on some faces,” said Dyami Starks, Director of Starks Academy.

These high schoolers played in the snow, to make others happy.

“So this was an idea one of our parents actually reached out to us this morning and was saying ‘hey, it would be a great idea if all the boys could put together, build some snowmen here at Diamond Willow, for some of the residents here to take a look at,'” Starks said.

So the boys of Starks Academy Basketball banded together to give the residents of Diamond Willow Assisted Living something to smile at.

“It makes them feel that, like they’re young again and how they used to do it when they were kids,” said Isaac Asuma, 8th grader at Cherry High School.

“Coming out here to Diamond Willow I mean there’s really no place we wouldn’t wanna go,” Starks said. “Basketball has no boundaires and our community outreach has no boundaries, so.”

The snow could’ve been a bit more packable, but they worked with it.

“We’re just piling snow on top of each other, trying to pack it down, cause it’s not that sticky right now,” said Asuma. “We’re just trying to pack it down and then just make more piles and then pick those up and set them on top of each other.”

Because it’s worth it to brighten the days of the folks at Diamond Willow.

“Well we wanna uplift them, there’s no doubt about that,” Starks said. “Especially bringing in some young souls with some old souls, that’s always nice and the snowmen is a good bridge for that as well, so.”

To remind them that there’s still a lot in life to smile about.

“That life is still fun,” Asuma said.