BATON ROUGE, La. – Members of LSU’s various intercollegiate athletics teams spent part of their off-day on Monday giving back to the community by participating in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service at various places throughout the city.

The LSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee spent their time at the Baton Rouge Center for Visual and Performing Arts, helping with general upkeep and maintenance of the area around the center, while also showing off their artistic side by painting with the kids in attendance on the sidewalk.

Gymnastics, women’s soccer and women’s track & field team members joined in the festivities under the Mississippi River Bridge for a community art project that painted various pillars downtown. The event was started to create public art for the city by its citizens.

Some of those sports as well as members of the women’s basketball and men’s swimming & diving team volunteered their time at the LSU Museum of Art, while other members of SAAC pitched in at various events in and around Baton Rouge.

“It’s cool to be able to come out and give back to the community,” senior thrower Tori Bliss said. “It’s great to be able to come together with the rest of the athletic department and the rest of the athletic teams to refurbish these facilities and really just give back our time.”

The Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes is a 54,000 square foot facility comprised of academic affairs, student affairs and an information technology teams, serving more than 530 student-athletes. The purpose is to provide an all-inclusive, student-centered support structure for all student-athletes from matriculation, through graduation and life beyond.

Source: http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=5200&ATCLID=209857106

Oldfield Middle School in the Harborfields Central School District hostedtheir 11th annual charity volleyball tournament to raise money for the Harborfields Alumni and Community Educational Foundation on Jan. 13 and 14. The school’s popular volleyball tournament drew in 21 sixth-grade teams and 20 seventh and eighth-grade teams, raising funds to benefit members of the Harborfields community. A $5 donation was collected from every participant, allowing them and their teammates to take to the courts for several volleyball matches. While promoting good sportsmanship in a fun environment, the event raised $1,670

“The OMS Physical Education department takes pride in our curriculum,” said Oldfield Middle School physical education teacher Sue Karagjozi. “We like to offer a culminating event that highlight the skills students learned during the unit, while raising money for various organizations.”

Photo Captions: Oldfield Middle School students on the “Rich List” team at the Oldfield Middle School Charity Volleyball Tournament.

Photo courtesy of the Harborfields Central School District

Rocky Point High School volleyball player Rachel Magnuson has been selected as an Ambassador for the Side-Out Foundation, an organization established to unite volleyball players and coaches as they work toward the common goal of furthering breast cancer awareness, education and patient services. Only 18 people in the country were selected to receive this honor. In addition, a Rocky Point volleyball alumnus, Catie Swiderski, was also selected for her college.  

The Side-Out Ambassador Program was launched in 2011 to recognize those students who involve their schools and communities in the planning and execution of a breast cancer philanthropic and educational event.
Rocky Point has been a large supporter of the organization’s efforts to raise funds for breast cancer education through its annual Dig Pink fundraiser. Each year, the school dedicates one fall volleyball game to the cause – athletes wear pink colored uniforms, volunteer to raise funds through bake sales, donations and silent auctions.

Photo Caption: Rocky Point High School junior Rachel Magnuson.

Photo courtesy of the Rocky Point School District

A junior at Our Lady of Mercy Academy in Syosset is helping to assist local families dealing with cancer.

Junior Elizabeth Stiles of Woodbury has launched an organization designed to create a network of high school students who offer free child-care services to cancer-affected families that apply for the help.

The organization — named “Helping Hand Babysitting” — started over the summer with 30 volunteers from Our Lady of Mercy who performed more than 170 hours of service for seven families. Stiles, 17, said she came up with the idea after baby-sitting and doing errands a few years ago for a neighbor, one of whose children was being treated for leukemia.

“It started out as a seed of an idea,” Stiles said. “Sometimes, you don’t realize how much people right here on Long Island are suffering.”

Volunteers indicate their availability and how far they can travel, so they can be paired with compatible families. To identify families, Stiles teamed up with CancerCare in Woodbury. She also has passed out fliers at local cancer walks.

Stiles is captain of the varsity basketball team and a member of Math Club, Leaders Club, Ambassadors Club, Craft Club and Mercy Action, a community service club.

-Michael R. Ebert http://www.olma.org/apps/news/show_news.jsp?REC_ID=336255&id=0

Nick Nieri, a sophomore swimmer at Sachem East, raised money for new swim record board at Central Islip High School.

According to a letter from his father to Sachem’s Athletic Department, Nick had the opportunity over the past few years to swim against his peers from Central Islip and enjoyed speaking with the guys before, during and after meets.

During these conversations he realized how privileged he was to swim in a facility that offered him equipment that he once took for granted.

He decided he wanted to help do some fund raising for the varsity team. Throughout the past year he did several fundraising events such as candy sales, donation requests, garage sales, and raised enough money to purchase a record board.

The record board was custom designed with school colors and logo affixed.

Courtesy of Sachem Schools Public Relations Department.