Gretna Volleyball Community Rallying Around Family in Need
GRETNA – You won’t find Sarah Skierka’s name on a Gretna volleyball program, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t a big part of the team. Skierka has been a big part of helping build volleyball in Gretna and now the Dragons are trying to help her out.
Skierka was instrumental in developing the G1 club volleyball program in Gretna and also has coaches several YMCA teams in the community. A good portion of the current Gretna varsity team was coached at one point by Skierka as well.
Now, the Gretna volleyball community is rallying around Skierka after her daughter – Sydney – was severely injured in a boating accident this summer at Ginger Woods, just outside of Valley.
“(Skierka) has selflessly given of herself to G1 and several YMCA teams for the past five years for Gretna and longer for Elkhorn, even when her daughter wasn’t even old enough to play,” Kelly Brandon of G1 said. “She coached high school and played for the UNL club team. She has helped us develop our program and many others and we need to give back to her and her family.”
Sydney and two friends were celebrating the end of summer by boating and tubing at on July 31 at Ginger Woods. The girls were in a boating/tubing accident in which the tube the three girls were on collided into a boat. The girls were transported to UNMC as Level 1 traumas. After 10 days in the hospital, Sydney returned home for a long recovery with home health, PT, OT, grade 2-3 concussion recovery and more. During this time, Sydney must have someone with her every hour of the day and night.
Both of Sydney’s parents have new career positions, which means neither have any PTO’s and no FMLA hours available. They also come from small families, which means that mom and dad must take off work to care for Sydney.
A GoFundMe page has been established to help with the family’s medical expenses and care of Sydney with a goal of raising $25,000. You can visit her GoFundMe page HERE.
A fundraising has also been set-up for this Saturday during the Nebraska-Miami football game at The Session Room Sports Bar in Omaha. The flyer for the event is below.
The Gretna volleyball community also has been using #DragonNation on social media to help bring attention to its fundraising efforts for the family.