When Tricia Farrell hung up the phone, she felt goosebumps. She was told her daughter won an award for donating around 100 hours to her community. A year ago that day, she was feeling nervous taking her daughter to Children’s Hospital for an emergency appendectomy. Now, she felt blessed that her daughter won an award.

Varsity basketball player Averie Farrell has been recognized by the “Making a Difference On and Off the Field” campaign for student-athletes who make a positive difference through community service.

When Averie walked in on what she thought was a normal day of basketball practice, she was met with her loved ones celebrating.

“I was shocked. Definitely my first reaction when I walked in, and I was excited to see what I was awarded,” Averie said.

Varsity basketball coach Kelly Dansby told the team beforehand about Averie’s award and were onboard with keeping it a surprise.

“They made posters once we did tell them that and they were just celebrating like they would in a game,” Dansby said.

Tristan Aldridge held up posters celebrating Averie’s accomplishment.

“Averie was walking from the complete opposite side of the gym so she couldn’t read the signs at first,” Aldridge said. “And we were just cheering and clapping for her.”

Averie’s parents were also there celebrating alongside her basketball team.

“I felt very blessed. It’s kind of an honor,’ Tricia said. “And, I was really excited for her, honestly.”

Averie Farrell said her biggest inspiration for her service hours is her mom.

“She does pretty much every service thing I do, and we get to go together and she helps me figure out which philanthropy needs more help than others,” Averie Farrell said.

Tricia said working at retirement centers and community ministries to feed starving children alongside her daughter has been rewarding.

“I think it’s just a blessing to be able to give up your skills, your money, your time to somebody that could truly need it,” Tricia Farrell said.

When Averie underwent an emergency appendectomy, her community service hours and her basketball team were affected.

“It’s a scary moment because she’s an athlete and was in such good shape,” Tricia said.

Averie spent her Thanksgiving break and the week after recovering in the hospital.

“It was a struggle to get back on the court because there was recovery time, but I was able to support my team during that time,” Averie said.

Dansby said her main concern was for her to get healthy first and follow the doctor’s protocols.

“It was hard for her to sit on the sideline and watch and not play,” Dansby said.

Her recovery time also affected her community service hours.

“Over the holidays, it would’ve been nice to give back to our community but you can only do what you can do,” Tricia said.

Despite her struggles, Averie was able to continue her community service hours with her mom.

“We’re still continuing to do community service. And all I can hope for is that when she goes off to college, that she’ll continue to want to do community service,” Tricia Farrell said.

Along with her award of “Making a Difference On and Off the Field”, she won tickets to a Dallas Mavericks game and gets to make a donation to a non-profit organization of her choice.

“I haven’t chosen [an organization] yet, but I want to do something that helps with starving children,” Averie Farrell said.

Averie Farrell said she encourages everyone to do community service.

“It’s good to give back to the community because then you can just think about how many people are impacted,” Averie Farrell said.