ANDERSON­ — Local high school athletic departments were asked a while back, “what do you need?”

When they came up with their wish lists, there were benefactors ready to make at least some of their dreams come true: Saint John’s Health System and St. Vincent Health. The gifts were worth well more than $20,000.

“We’re very grateful to Saint John’s that they did this for all the schools,” said Doug Bellar, athletic director at Alexandria-Monroe High School. “In sports, as an athletic director, you have to have people in the community willing to do that.”

At Alexandria, the gifts included covered heat packs, an electronic stimulation machine and vacuum splints. Bellar said the items on the wish list were compiled with input from the school’s athletic trainer and are designed to “help athletes get back on the floor or playing quicker” after they suffer an injury. Area school trainers are contracted to schools through Central Indiana Orthopedics, which also has a long-standing relationship with Saint John’s.

“We have a long-standing commitment to the community and supporting education needs in schools,” said Saint John’s President Tom VanOsdol. “This was just a specific opportunity that we wanted to capitalize on in the broader context of commitment to our community.”

At Frankton High School, Athletic Director Phil Abernathy said that when the school received its donation of two training tables and a whirlpool, it lacked space for them. There was a building used to store mowers and field equipment that could be used, he said, but that wouldn’t have left the school room for the maintenance items.

Saint John’s went the extra mile, Abernathy said, and agreed to build a new building at the high school so that the training equipment could have a permanent home. It will make a difference.

“On practices and game nights, we had to find a chair or the most convenient place for people to tape their ankles,” he said. “Now that we have portable tables we don’t have to use a broken-down chair or whatever’s convenient.”

The whirlpool helps students with certain kinds of injuries recover faster, he said.

“We appreciate the fact that they even thought about us and were able to give us some of the things they have,” Abernathy said. “We’re very appreciative of what they’ve done for us.”

Contact Dave Stafford: 648-4250, dave.stafford@heraldbulletin.com