High school soccer players spent Friday morning volunteering with residents at the Avantara facility in Evergreen Park.

Avantara offers memory care services and other health services to senior citizens and the outing, organized by Buddy’s Helpers, a Chicago-based nonprofit that pairs high school athletes with volunteer projects, highlighted August as Senior Citizen Month.

The 25 soccer players from Brother Rice, Marist, Eisenhower, Shepard, Richards and Mount Carmel spent the morning serving breakfast snacks, playing bingo, Uno and just chatting with seniors at Avantara.

“They’re competitors on the field but they’re teammates in the game of life,” said Jonny Rodriguez, a volunteer with Buddy’s’ Helpers and an alum of the program.

Rodriguez explained the nonprofit likes to bring togethe

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