Being an athlete at the Pennsylvania College of Technology means more than hitting a ball or scoring a goal: It means giving back to the community and during the first semester Wildcats completed 1,648 community service hours, according to the college.

Wildcat athletes volunteered at 10 events, both on campus and in the Williamsport community, and helped raise $1,575 for various charitable organizations. Organized by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, all athletic programs participated in at least one event ranging from to walks to support Alzheimer’s Awareness and sexual assaults, marathons supporting the Salvation Army, cleaning up the Susquehanna River Walk and Logue Park to helping incoming students move-in, volunteering at Fire Tree Place, hosting a youth soccer clinic and participating in No-Shave November.

Last year, the department reached slightly more than 3,000 community service hours and is on pace to surpass that total by the end of the 2017 academic year.

Community service is an important initiative by both the North Eastern Athletic Conference and NCAA Division III.

In December, Thomas Ross, of Williamsport, a senior basketball captain, was selected as a nominee for the 2017 Allstate NABC Good Works Team. He was the only representative from the North Eastern Atlantic Conference and joins 180 men’s basketball players from around the country. The awards recognize a unique group of men’s and women’s college basketball student-athletes who stand out for their charitable achievements and community involvement.

Source: http://athletics.pct.edu/news/2017/1/18/general-penn-college-athletes-give-back-to-the-community.aspx?path=general

Many Wartburg College student-athletes took time to participate in Martin Luther King Jr. Day service projects on Monday.

Though several activities were canceled due to winter weather conditions, various teams were able to spend the afternoon volunteering.

The women’s soccer and women’s tennis teams were active at Blankets of Love, a popular event where blankets were made for individuals living at the Bremwood Center.

Source: http://www.communitynewspapergroup.com/waverly_newspapers/wartburg-student-athletes-participate-in-mlk-day-service/article_9d718086-ddbf-11e6-9b5b-9731c5fa7d6f.html

Throughout the months of November and December, student athletes involved with the Bullard High School athletic department were hard at work trying to make a difference in the lives of others in the East Texas community through two different fundraiser events.

The first fundraiser held by the BHS athletic department was during the final two months of the football regular season, when members of the Bullard Panther football program collected money for an organization benefitting local cancer patients.

“Of course everyone knows that the month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month,” said Shannon Wilson, Bullard Independent School District Athletic Director. “Since I’ve been here, we’ve always thought what we can do about it rather than just talking about it and wearing pink the entire month. As a football staff, we talked about it and found out about a local organization called FitSTEPS for Life, which is an exercise organization free to cancer patients and cancer survivors. We felt it was a very worthy cause for us to contribute to this season.”

According to the organization’s website, FitSTEPS for Life is an individualized exercise and nutrition program designed to improve the physical and mental functioning, quality of life, and survival of people living with cancer. It includes aerobic, strength, flexibility and core training. The program is designed to assist cancer survivors in achieving and maintaining as much functional mobility and endurance as possible during their cancer experience.

All types of cancer patients are eligible for rehabilitation through FitSTEPS For Life, such as breast cancer, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, prostate cancer, brain cancer, myelomas, colon cancer, leukemia and lymphoma. Each exercise program is specifically designed to meet the patient’s individual needs and tailored to their requirements regardless of their type or stage of cancer, physical limitations, or phase of treatment.

According to Wilson, members of the Panther junior varsity football team collected money from Panther football fans in the stands of the varsity football games. Additionally, the BHS athletic program partnered with the Bullard Panther junior varsity and varsity cheerleaders, collecting money by selling cancer awareness wristbands, among other fundraising opportunities.

For their efforts over the past two years, the BHS athletic department and BHS cheerleaders were able to collect a total of $2,400.

“It’s really great that this money is going to this organization and not just for merchandise and other things,” said Wilson. “As the athletic director, I believe that we sometimes get caught up into wearing the pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and we think that’s all we need to do. We were able to challenge our entire department to step up and actually do something about fighting cancer. Our athletes realized that by working to collect the money, we were actually going to do something in this fight. I believe everyone can say that they have known someone that has either passed away from cancer or battled cancer, so it really hits home. I’m very proud of our kids for stepping up and helping others out in their time of need.”

Additionally, the BHS athletic department’s athletes learned a valuable lesson in giving rather than receiving at Christmastime, as the program participated in a giving project Wilson calls “Project Adoption.”

“We’ve also participated in Project adoption for as long as I’ve been here, so almost seven years now,” said Wilson. “The gifts we collect through Project adoption come from the generous donations by our athletes and their parents. We try to help locally, making sure that local children have gifts to open on Christmas Day. With so many people in this area working in the oil fields, it’s been an up-and-down year for that industry; we all go through hard times. One of the cool things about this project is that the athletes and parents really step up to the plate and deliver big for this project. It’s just like Christmas Day for me to see these kids receive these gifts.”

Wilson said that Project Adoption started off as the BHS athletic department supporting one family, but has grown exponentially to where the program gave away gifts to 21 kids this year.

“We were able to support a total of 21 kids this Christmas,” said Wilson. “Each kid received six to seven presents each, so they all had a great Christmas Day. We had approximately 120 athletes and their parents give to Project Adoption this year.”

According to Wilson, the support of the Bullard community was essential to both BHS athletic department events this year.

“I couldn’t be more thankful and pleased with the outcome of the FitSTEPS and Project Adoption fundraisers because the Bullard community is second-to-none when it comes to giving to others,” said Wilson. “When people are in need, I feel that our community is always there to help out. Even with the Kayla Gomez case, there were over 1,000 people from the Bullard and East Texas communities willing to give of their time to search, while others donated food and water for the various law enforcement agencies. We are blessed to live in a community such as Bullard.”

Source: http://www.bullardnews.com/stories/bullard-panther-athletic-department-gives-back-to-others-through-two-recent-fundraiser-events,107047

INDIANAPOLIS – Nearly 100 IUPUI student-athletes and staffers participated in a day filled with community service and campus engagement on Monday (Jan. 16) as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Caring.

The athletics department’s participation was in conjunction with a larger university wide initiative and was headed by Evan Fruits.

“It felt good to see our student-athletes and members of our staff giving back to the community,” Fruits said. “I think we made an enormous impact on our campus and all over the city through our participation.

“Honestly, I think our student-athletes enjoyed the opportunity to work together to accomplish a lot of different tasks. I think we’ll continue to grow our participation numbers and make an even larger impact in the years to come.”

The day began with an early morning orientation session before groups dispersed across campus and throughout the city for multiple projects, ranging from cleaning, building, organizing and repairing.

Community engagement has been a vital piece of Dr. Roderick Perry’s vision for the department as part of his Jags Give Back initiative. All 18 varsity sports have engaged in community service activities and the total number of volunteer hours from the department has increased in the past year.

Source: http://www.iupuijags.com/news/2017/1/18/general-nearly-100-student-athletes-give-back-in-campus-wide-event.aspx

The Augsburg men’s and women’s cross country teams went to Peru for a nine-day high-altitude training and service trip, the first international trip in the program’s history.

In their trip they Visited 500-year-old ruins in Saqsaywaman Park. The government is in the process of restoring these ancient Incan ruins and they were the first tourists to ever see them. They also service work in the park for three days.

One day they dug holes to help with reforestation of native trees and shrubs.

To learn more please visit: http://athletics.augsburg.edu/news/2017/1/3/cc010317.aspx