It was a different kind of warm up for one cheer group based out of Transcona on Monday, as they pitched in to help Winnipeg’s less fortunate.
The Transcona Nationals Empowering Girls Cheer Team, a group of 17 seven to 14-year-old girls, collected blankets for the homeless out of their home community.
“It’s starting to get winter and everyone is going to be cold,” said cheer team member Chloe McKay. “They’re going to want to be warm so we’re giving them the blankets.”
The idea, which was born out of one of the team’s regular empowerment exercises, started as an online video call to help out — a video that has been viewed thousands of times in just a few days.
It’s a push to help that almost brought their director Sherry Selley to tears.
“This is coming straight from their heart,” Selley said. “These girls are pulling this straight from themselves.”
“We gave them no ideas. I’m super proud.”
The group is a relatively new cheer team that does more than just dance routines. They meet twice a week to discuss each other and their relationships with themselves: a practice of self-love Selley said she believes is very important in modern society.