NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana students helped this past weekend with recovery from recent catastrophic flooding in the state.

Thirty-one XULA students — including athletes Elex Carter, Seth Jackson, Innocent Kukulu, Lucas Martin-Julien, Wesley Pluviose-Philip and Chris Ward from men’s basketball and Clarke Allen, Keairez Coleman, Katelyn McMorris and Darrick Williams from men’s and women’s track and field/cross country — traveled to Baton Rouge Saturday. They volunteered their time to gut flooded houses or work at a Red Cross shelter.

“It was easy for me to volunteer,” said Jackson, a Baton Rouge resident whose house did not flood. “I wanted to help my city.”

Jackson and teammates spent nearly four hours in a flooded home. Their duties included cutting open walls to a height of four feet and carrying wet furniture to the curb. There was no air conditioning, and the volunteers more masks and gloves to avoid contact with mold.

“It was pretty hot in that house,” Jackson said.

But Jackson left the house feeling good about his group’s efforts. “I wish we could have stayed and helped a little longer,” he said.

Jackson took advantage of another opportunity Sunday when he helped with cleanup at a cousin’s house in Baton Rouge. XULA’s fall semester began Monday.

According to reports from the Baton Rouge Advocate and NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune, the flooding across the southern part of the state from the second weekend of August has left at least 13 people dead and thousands more displaced. More than 120,000 households have applied for federal recovery assistance through FEMA, and 2,817 people remained in shelters overnight Sunday. FEMA announced Tuesday the approval of approximately $127 million for for flood survivors.

Courtesy: Xavier Athletics

Source: http://hbcusports.com/2016/08/25/xavier-students-athletes-assist-in-baton-rouge-flood-recovery/

WACO, Texas – For the fifth-straight year, more than 500 Baylor University student-athletes, coaches and staff will rally to be part of the hunger solution through a partnership between Baylor Athletics and non-profit Feed My Starving Children (FMSC). Volunteers will prepare 132,000 live-saving meals during this FMSC MobilePack™ on Monday, Aug. 29, from 2-8:30 p.m. in the Ferrell Center.

Three, two-hour packing sessions, each beginning with a 15-minute overview of FMSC’s work around the world, will take place on the arena’s main floor starting at 2 p.m., and feature student-athletes and coaches from each of Baylor’s 19 intercollegiate athletic programs. Volunteers will put on hairnets and gather in an energetic atmosphere to hand-pack rice meals filled with essential nutrients specifically formulated to nourish hungry children around the world.

In the first four years of this partnership, Baylor Athletics has packed nearly 450,000 meals that have been sent around the world to help stamp out hunger.

Feed My Starving Children is a Christian non-profit that tackles world hunger by sending volunteer-packed MannaPack meals to nearly 70 countries, where they’re used to operate orphanages, schools, clinics and feeding programs to break the cycle of poverty. MobilePack events enable children and adults across the United States to pack these life-giving meals. Churches, businesses, community groups and schools in more than 35 states have hosted these food-packing events as a way to foster teamwork and unity, while making a real difference in the fight to prevent and reverse malnutrition. For more information, visit fmsc.org.

Source: http://www.baylorbears.com/index-main.html

Division Avenue and MacArthur high school athletes took to Massapequa’s Field of Dreams on July 21 and 22 during the annual Shootout for Soldiers event to benefit the nation’s returning, wounded and homeless soldiers. Of the 96 participating teams, six Levittown teams played lacrosse in a 24-hour dual against other Long Island teams, helping to raise more than $133,000 for this important cause.

The Shootout for Soldiers event commenced in Baltimore and has spread to eight other cities. The lacrosse games are played hour-to-hour with participants designated as stars or stripes and ending with a cumulative score for each category. Co-chairman Mike Nelson noted that the Long Island event was the largest event in terms of money raised and participating teams, and all proceeds were donated to two local and six national foundations and funds, including the Long Island Air Force Association and the U.S. Army Lead the Way Fund.

“This has become a real community event, and support from the Levittown community runs deep,” Mr. Nelson noted. “I am particularly proud of the Levittown students and all the other teams whose support and participation were humbling.”

Photo Caption: Division Avenue High School athletes participated in the annual Shootout for Soldiers event, held at Massapequa’s Field of Dreams on July 21 and 22.

Photo courtesy of the Levittown School District

Deer Park High School’s Patriot Club recently supported Adopt-a-Battalion with donation drives, aiding the organization in its goal of sending care packages to U.S. service members serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.
The month-long drive at the high school, augmented by a Saturday collection at Deer Park’s new ShopRite supermarket, helped obtain a generous amount of donations of items that are not available to troops serving in the Middle East, such as toiletries and snacks. The Patriot Club members then brought the donations in to Adopt-a-Battalion’s offices at the Knights of Columbus in Massapequa to help pack the items for mailing. They also donated $120 that was earned through an earlier “Hearts for Heroes” fundraiser and an additional $100 check earned through a Deer Park High School staff baby picture contest that was organized by secretary Kim Valenti.
“The Deer Park community and students once again demonstrated their tremendous generosity and patriotism in support of this cause, and the administrators of Adopt-a-Battalion were very appreciative,” said teacher Laurie Osbern, the club’s adviser.

Patriot 01: Deer Park High School’s Patriot Club’s donation drives, including ShopRite, helped send care packages from Adopt-a-Battalion to U.S. service members serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.

Photo courtesy of the Deer Park School District

ELIZABETH, NJ — Twice a week for six weeks, about a dozen members of the Westfield High School swim team volunteer their time each summer with the Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless to give swim lessons to kids in need. The program is run by WHS students and, recently, graduates Blake Taylor and Caroline Felix passed the leadership baton to rising senior Emily Oster and rising junior Zach Kronheimer.

“We work with kids ages 6 to 12,” Kronheimer explained. “Many of them do not speak English and many have never even touched a pool before coming to our program. We teach swim lessons to the kids, play with them in the pool and guard to make sure everyone stays safe around the water.”

For Kronheimer, this program provides the opportunity for him to give back to his community through one of his biggest passions.

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“Swimming is my passion, and I am so happy that I am able to combine my favorite activity with something that I know makes a difference in my community and in these children’s lives,” Kronheimer said. He added that he believes it’s crucial to give back to people who have fewer opportunities in life than he has had growing up in Westfield.

Volunteers work with the children at the pool of the Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel. Kronheimer said his favorite part of the experience is the happiness it brings.

“Every time we walk into the pool, the kids always have smiles on their faces and that makes me so happy,” he said. “They’re always so eager to get in the pool. It’s hard to comprehend the excitement they have, as I have been allowed to go in the pool my entire life.”

Oster agreed.

To read more please visit: https://www.tapinto.net/towns/elizabeth/sections/giving-back/articles/westfield-student-athletes-teach-underprivileged-1