HAMDEN, Conn. – The Quinnipiac University women’s lacrosse and field hockey teams both spent time with the Hamden Family University on Friday, Oct. 17 at the Hamden Fall Food Truck Festival. Both squads sent a bevy of players to the local event held at the Hamden Town Center Park as the student-athletes and staff members played games with the children of the Hamden Family University and kept the group well entertained throughout the afternoon.

A vast majority of both teams made the trip to the town park for the second annual Food Truck Festival in Hamden. The large scale event attracted 45 food truck vendors and over 5,000 people flocked to grab a taste of all the different offerings. At the event, the Bobcats participated in a wide variety of activities to help support the event including setting up chairs, cleaning tables, playing with the kids on the playground and taking part in some arts and crafts activities as well.

“The Quinnipiac Field Hockey team had a great night volunteering at the Hamden Food Truck Fair,” said field hockey senior tri-captain Danielle Allan. “We spent time helping clean tables, dancing to music, and racing children down the slides. We shared a lot of laughs with the Hamden community and look forward more experiences like this!”

Both teams spent valuable time with kids throughout the local community of Hamden as both the women’s lacrosse and field hockey teams were at the event for over two hours each.

“It’s always so rewarding when we are able to give back to our community and get involved,” said women’s lacrosse senior captain Vicki Kuhn. “We had a great time at the Food Truck Festival. Our team loves to dance so to be able to get out and dance with the kids there was a blast!”

The afternoon was a perfect opportunity for Quinnipiac student-athletes to chip in on Quinnipiac Athletics’ Positive Play initiative. Quinnipiac is dedicated to the promotion and development of service, service learning, experiential learning, and civic engagement programs and initiatives that involve students in the local community and challenge them to critically examine the role their service plays in cultivating personal development and social change.

“The women’s lacrosse program has always looked for opportunities to get involved with the local community,” said women’s lacrosse head coach Danie Caro. “Helping with the Food Truck Festival at Hamden Town Center Park was not only an opportunity to provide service, but a fun way for our student-athletes to experience the local community.”

Both teams will hit the field this weekend as the field hockey team hosts Rider on Friday at 3:00 pm and Monmouth on Senior Day Sunday at 1:00 pm from the QU Field Hockey Turf Complex. Meanwhile, the women’s lacrosse team wraps up its 2014 Fall Schedule with a home game against Manhattan on Saturday at 2:30 pm.

Source: http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com/sports/wlax/2014-15/releases/20141022v0vwxx

Contact: Maxx McNall; maxx.mcnall@quinnipiac.edu

Texas A&M is the home of the largest student-athlete run canned food drive in the nation with over 200 student-athletes participating last year and the 2014 Aggies CAN food drive is set to begin later this week.

Directed by the Aggie Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), over 200 student-athletes helped last year in raising more than $30,000 in cash and more than 12,000 pounds of canned goods that were donated to the Brazos Valley Food Bank in 2013. In an effort to make an even greater impact, SAAC has partnered with Whataburger, The Bryan-College Station Eagle and KAGS-TV for the 2014 campaign.

“We’re proud to partner with the Texas A&M Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for such a worthy cause,” Whataburger Field Marketing Coordinator Mary Reedy said. “The Brazos Valley Food Bank is an integral part of our community and we’re happy to do what we can to contribute to this important campaign.”

SAAC and Aggie student-athletes will wear lime green shirts throughout the next week at various athletics events and will be happy to accept monetary donations or canned good items at each event.

The kickoff to the week begins on Sunday, Oct. 26 as the volleyball team hosts the University of Kentucky at Reed Arena with first serve set for 11 a.m. Later that day soccer hosts South Carolina at 4 p.m. at Ellis Field and then on Thursday, Oct. 30 the soccer team hosts the University of Georgia at 7 p.m. The week will wrap up with an 11 a.m. kickoff at Kyle Field on Saturday, Nov. 1 as the Aggie football team hosts Louisiana Monroe.

Fans who bring two canned goods to the soccer or volleyball matches will receive free admission and a coupon courtesy of Whataburger.

In addition, the first 15,000 fans who give either a monetary donation of at least $1 or donate two canned good items at the football game will receive a coupon good for a free Whataburger.

Source: http://tamutimes.tamu.edu/2014/10/22/student-athletes-annual-aggies-can-food-drive/#.VEkXIYvF_2w

Free time can be hard to come by for student-athletes between hours of practice and games on top of academic commitments.

But for some, dedicating free time to volunteer work serves a significant role in their experience at the University of Minnesota.

More than 320 of the school’s roughly 750 student-athletes volunteered for more than 10 hours with Maroon and Gold Impacting the Community, or M.A.G.I.C., last year.

Volunteers from the program participated in 278 events between April 2013 and April 2014, logging nearly 15,000 total hours of volunteering.

“We’re always on the move trying to do something and make an impact on the community,” said Anissa Lightner, assistant director of student-athlete development at Minnesota.

M.A.G.I.C. participates in a wide variety of events, which include collecting food donations for charity, assisting homeless shelters and reading books to children, Lightner said.

It’s up to the student-athletes to choose which events they volunteer at, she said.

“Pretty much whatever our students are interested in doing, we’ll try to find a way to make it happen,” Lightner said.

Katie Richardson, a senior infielder on the softball team, and Luke McAvoy, a redshirt junior offensive lineman on the football team, are two of the many student-athletes who volunteer with the program.

Richardson, who didn’t volunteer much in high school, said M.A.G.I.C. gave her an opportunity to try something new.

“[Volunteering] wasn’t really at my disposal like it is here,” Richardson said. “When I got here, I had a few good seniors that were involved with M.A.G.I.C., and they got me involved in it.”

Richardson said she thinks volunteering is one of the best aspects of the student-athlete experience at the University.

“I have friends that play [sports] at other colleges and universities around the country, and they don’t quite get the same experience,” she said.

She recalled her recent work with Hearts for Hammers in which a handful of Gophers helped renovate the home of a local veteran.

“I think it was the first time I’ve gone through a program here where you could actually work on a house and start something and finish it, see the end product, and know you physically changed something as well as changed his life,” Richardson said.

Unlike Richardson, McAvoy had a realm of volunteering experience before arriving on campus.

During his senior year of high school, McAvoy began work with the leadership program Helping Youth Progress and Excel. He asked the Gophers’ director of football operations, Adam Clark, if he could join a similar volunteer group when he enrolled at Minnesota.

“I asked him if there were opportunities to do that sort of thing here because I think it’s important to give back to the community that supports us,” McAvoy said.

He said giving back as a student-athlete is underrated, mentioning the HopeDay Festival as one of his favorite events.

The festival serves as the fall kickoff event for M.A.G.I.C. where children with life-threatening diseases and their families come to the University for a day of activities. Gophers players from all teams make appearances.

“It’s almost like a fair,” McAvoy said. “And it’s great to see the kids just be kids for a day.”

Richardson said she’s hopeful her time with M.A.G.I.C. will have a lasting impact on her life after college.

“It’s something I’ll look back on, be proud of and hopefully do for the rest of my life.”

Source: http://www.mndaily.com/sports/2014/10/23/student-athletes-embrace-volunteering

STONY BROOK, N.Y. (Oct. 20, 2014) – On Sunday, the LIU Post field hockey team stepped away from the field to participate in the Take Steps Walk For Crohn’s Disease and Colitis at Stony Brook University.

The Pioneers raised $200 for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, whose mission is to cure Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, while improving the quality of life for children and adults affected by these diseases.

“Having the field hockey team participate in the Taking Steps Walk for Crohn’s means a lot to me and my family,” said Head Coach Raenee Savin (Nesconset, N.Y.). “My husband, Andy, who has deep roots here at LIU Post, had suffered from Crohn’s since he was 14. Three surgeries later, and another on the way, we do anything we can to help find a cure for this disease. It’s great to have my field hockey family supporting my personal family.”

For more information on the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, please visit www.ccfa.org.
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From the tips of their toes to the tops of their heads, high school volleyball players were decked out in pink to raise awareness for breast cancer research during their fourth annual “Dig Pink” event. Their efforts raised just over $1,000 through the sale of T-shirts, baked goods and other small items.

The fundraiser was not only a financial success, but also helped the team members bond with each other. Varsity Captain Taylor Herlich said preparing for the event created bonds that will last beyond the volleyball season. “We spent hours together tie-dying socks and baking, and we really got to know each other as friends,” the high school senior said.

Varsity Coach Bobbee Brancaccio and Junior Varsity Coach Janet Ratner supported both teams as they worked together to prepare for the event. “The girls really did it themselves,” Brancaccio said. “They are very dedicated to the cause, and we are so proud of them.”

In addition to a bake sale, which included scrumptious goodies decorated in pink, the teams each played a non-league game against Glen Cove. They have been playing each other in the Dig Pink event since Locust Valley started it five years ago.

MSG Varsity and Fios1 covered the event. The FIOS1 feature can be seen on FIOS1 Friday, Oct. 17 at 11 a.m.; Saturday, Oct. 18 at 9:30 a.m. and Sunday, Oct. 19 at 3:30 p.m.

Click here to view the MSG Varsity video.: http://www.msgvarsity.com/long-island/dig-it-locust-valley-hosts-fundraising-match-1.1636467

Courtesy of Locust Valley Central School District