MILES CITY, MONTANA: Miles Community College (MCC) Volleyball Coach Robin Cusimano faced a dilemma in late July of this year, prior to the start of the 2023-24 volleyball season.
With Pioneer Volleyball team members arriving on campus on the first of August, more than a month before the academic year began, and with the MCC cafeteria not scheduled to open until then, how was she going to feed the players?
One solution was to put the word out to faculty, staff, and the larger community of Miles City (and beyond), many of whom stepped up and cooked meals for the kids; some hosting the team at their own homes and others bringing food to campus.
Even with this generous response, the team was still coming up short of feeding the student-athletes for so many continuous days.
That is where Cusimano’s friends came in.
“I was having dinner with friends Rob and Jenille Brugger one evening,” said Cusimano. “We were discussing the upcoming MCC volleyball and team. Rob is the head of physical therapy at Holy Rosary Hospital, and Jenille is the oncology nurse navigator for the hospital as well.”
During the conversation, the subject of feeding Cusimano’s 11 players came up.
Cusimano continued, “Rob said, ‘Let me check with dietary at the hospital to see if they can do anything.’ He then gave me Rachel Ramsey’s (head of dietary) phone number to get in touch with her. I called Rachel to discuss the team and what we were needing.”
Ramsey’s response floored Cusimano.
“Rachel said they would love to help out with meals and would like to do breakfast and lunch. I asked her which day/days would work best... she then said for the whole month!”
The Holy Rosary Hospital cafeteria was able to donate two meals per day for 11 volleyball players for an entire month, thanks to the leg work of the Bruggers and Ramsey. Cusimano was floored; a donation this large was a saving grace, yet not completely unexpected in this tight-knit, supportive community.
Cusimano adds, “We can’t thank Holy Rosary Hospital and Dietary Rachel Ramsey and staff for their hospitality in hosting the MCC volleyball team for breakfast and lunch for a month. It was so nice to know they had a welcoming and friendly place to go to grab a healthy meal while working hard during the pre-season with two-a-day practices.”
“I’m so grateful for the connection between Holy Rosary and the college,” said MCC President Ron Slinger. “They have gone above and beyond for our students!”
.Slinger and Holy Rosary President Karen Costello joined the team for lunch one of the days, along with MCC Athletic Director Jerry Olson, Brugger (Rob), and Ramsey.
“Having this partner within our community is so vital to all of us!” commented Cusimano.
