Former Durango High School student and women’s basketball star Megan Cherry was back in Durango, but her return was short-lived.
Cherry left last week on a mission trip that will take her throughout South and Central America, covering 11 countries in as many months. The work will be a far cry from the job she just left, working as a sales representative for a technology company in Phoenix.
“I just didn’t see it as where I was supposed to be,” Cherry said as her Durango stay neared its end. “Everything was right about it, but in my heart it wasn’t fulfilling me.”
So she returned to Durango, where in 2006 she graduated from DHS after leading the state that season in scoring. Cherry then played basketball at Butler Community College in Kansas before transferring to the University of Nevada, where she graduated in 2012 with a degree in business management and a minor in Spanish. She left her job in Phoenix a month ago and has spent the last few weeks preparing for this new adventure.
The trip, organized through the Adventures in Missions Program, will lead Cherry and a group of 46 other missionaries. In each community, they will split into smaller groups, working on a variety of projects ranging from construction to helping children in foster homes. They’ll adjust their work to what they see as the largest needs of each community.
As the days before her departure dwindled down, Cherry was spending the time that remained with her family. Her parents are Bill Cherry and Sandra Griego.
“It’s about being as prepared as I can but also staying present with where I am,” she said. “I want to be prepared, but also I want to spend as much time as I can with my family.”
Though she has some nervousness about the upcoming trip, Cherry carries inspiration from former University of Nevada women’s basketball coach Jane Albright and close friend Craig Gallegos, a Durango youth minister who died in a 2008 motorcycle accident. Cherry said both were inspirational and motivating to her in doing missionary work.
There were still, however, some explanations that needed to be provided to her family when she told them of her plans for the trip.
“When I first told them about it, I don’t know if they understood how much it means to me and how important it is,” she said. “Now, they are more open to it and excited for me. They’ve been very supportive.”
This will not be Cherry’s first trip to South America for service. In 2008, she traveled with the Athletes in Action program to put on basketball camps for children in small towns in Brazil. And it seems she’s made a habit of helping others. After her senior year at Nevada, she was awarded with the women’s basketball team’s Community Service Award.
Before she left Durango, Cherry also worked to raise as much money as she could for the trip, which requires she raise $13,500 by July. Though she currently has $6,798, enough to launch her trip, if she does not raise the remainder of the money, she will be sent home. In order to continue her fundraising, Cherry held two salsa sales at local churches.
“I’m so thankful for all the support I’ve gotten in Durango,” she said. “The emotional support and the financial support.”
With the adventure that stands before her, Cherry says she hasn’t been able to plan much for what she will do when she returns. However, going back to school for nursing is one possibility.
“I’m going to let it brew, and by the time I get back, if it’s still in my heart, I will go back,” she said. “Other than that, who knows? We’ll see what happens.”
Sarah Ford is a junior majoring in journalism at the University of Denver. herald@durangoherald.com.
