Student-athletes of the University of Wisconsin men’s and women’s rowing and softball teams took part in a Goodman Community Center tradition of distributing Thanksgiving Baskets to families all over Dane County on Tuesday, Nov. 17.

Throughout the morning, student-athletes worked to package and distribute Thanksgiving baskets to families. Their tasks included filling the baskets with baked goods and canned goods so that the baskets could then be distributed with a frozen turkey.

“It was especially rewarding to see how thankful the families were picking up their Thanksgiving food baskets,” said sophomore softball outfielder Gabby Scherle.

The 29th annual Thanksgiving basket drive at the Goodman Community Center met the needs of over 3,500 families in Dane County.

“It was such a great opportunity to lend a hand,” said women’s rower Claire Scott. “It’s moving to help families have a bountiful holiday meal to enjoy with their families.”

Source: http://www.uwbadgers.com/news/2016/11/29/badgers-give-back-thanksgiving-meals-for-all.aspx

The ETSU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics hosted Christmas early this year with the annual “A Buccaneer Christmas” event on Wednesday night inside the MSHA Athletic Center.

Over 70 children from Johnson City Coalition for Kids joined the festivities as Santa Claus gave out presents with the help of ETSU student-athletes from football, baseball, cheerleading and dance teams.

Assistant Athletic Director for Facilities and Game Operations Lee Morrow organized the 16th annual event as he prepared soccer fields, basketball courts, baseball fields, cornhole and a disc golf hole for the kids to interact with the Buccaneer student-athletes.

“These kids come out and enjoy playing with the student-athletes. The kids look at them like super athletes”, said Morrow. “The whole event revolves around the interaction, and this year we did just that by having different athletic games around the entire dome.”

In his third year at the Buccaneer Christmas, junior baseball player Christian Bailey reflected on helping out with the festivities.

“It is nice giving back to the community and helping those in need during the holiday season,” said Bailey. “The community backs us all the game so it’s rewarding to do our part. Playing sports start at a young age, so we love to be able to interact with the children by playing games.”

ETSU sophomore wide receiver Drake Powell interacted with the Coalition for Kids for his third straight year. His favorite part of the event is seeing Santa come out, which puts a smile on all the kid’s faces.

“It is awesome to see the kids get excited when Santa comes out,” Powell said. “It’s important to give back to the Coalition for Kids. It is really fun to see the smiles on their faces, and to come out here an interact with the children.”

ETSU spirit squad members Sarah Jacobs and Maci Felts talk about how much enjoyment the Buccaneer Christmas brings to the kids, along with the fellow student-athletes.

“Coalition for Kids is such an amazing program, and I am very excited to be able to celebrate the holidays with them,” said Jacobs.

“We look forward to this event every year because the children get so exciting interacting with us and meeting Santa,” said Felts. “We enjoy playing games with the kids. We have as much fun as they do.”

The ETSU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics takes pride in its community service activities and strives for 100 percent participation from its student-athletes, coaches and administrators throughout the year.

Source: http://wjhl.com/2016/11/30/etsu-athletics-holds-16th-annual-a-buccaneer-christmas/

STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The Stony Brook Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) donated over 1,500 food items to the on-campus food pantry on Monday.

SAAC members spent Monday evening stocking the shelves and sorting the food by nutrition content and expiration date. When completed there was not any room left on the shelves of the food pantry.

Each of the Seawolves’ teams collected food items throughout the month of November at local grocery stores as part of the America East Conference Food Frenzy. The student-athletes were rewarded by becoming connected with the community and were inspired by the kindness and generosity that was shown by the area community members.

The top contributors for the 2016 Food Drive were the Stony Brook women’s basketball, softball, women’s soccer, women’s lacrosse, men’s tennis, volleyball, men’s soccer, and women’s cross country/track & field.

The initiative was spearheaded by Executive Board Member and men’s tennis student-athlete Raphael Termat.

The SAAC is also participating in a competition among America East Conference schools through “You Give Goods,” an online giving system that allows supporters to purchase food items online that are sent directly to the on-campus food pantry. Stony Brook is currently in first place. The “You Give Goods” competition will run through November 25th. Supporters can donate here: https://yougivegoods.com/aefallfoodfrenzy-stonybrook

Story and Photo Courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics

East Islip High School’s STARS club held its annual food drive on Nov. 17, aided by students from the school’s National Honor Society.
The communitywide charitable event, organized and coordinated by seniors Brian Hartmann and Justin Jacobowitz, continued in its ongoing and successful mission of providing food for the needy.
“Thanks to the efforts of all students and parents involved, we were able to make donations to the food pantries of our local churches and help many families during this holiday season,” said club adviser Nicole Vincenti.

IMG_6748: East Islip High School’s STARS club held its annual communitywide food drive for needy families on Nov. 17, aided by students from the school’s National Honor Society.

Photo courtesy of the East Islip School District

The East Rockaway Junior-Senior High School National Junior Honor Society recently held its annual children’s book drive for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Long Island.

The book drive took place throughout the month of November, with students, faculty, staff and administrators participating. The students are looking forward to their next community service project in which they will organize a collection for Toys for Tots.

Photo Captions: Members of East Rockaway Junior-Senior High School’s National Junior Honor Society are pictured with books they collected for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Long Island.

Photo courtesy of the East Rockaway School District