Monroe, N.C.—-On Saturday, July 26, Benton Heights Presbyterian Church in Monroe hosted a Shoes of Hope distribution in conjunction with Samaritan’s Feet. Volunteers from the church, Piedmont High, Sun Valley High and Wingate University ministered to more than 130 children from Benton Heights Elementary. The Wingate University volunteers included student-athletes from the Bulldog men’s soccer and cheerleading teams.

The volunteers started by greeting the children and washing their feet. Afterwards, they fitted the children with new shoes and socks and gave each child a backpack filled with school supplies. Families also enjoyed snacks, arts and crafts and a photo booth.

“Each student spent individual time with a volunteer who shared Christ’s love by washing their feet,” Benton Heights Presbyterian Church pastor Paul Saleeby says. “This was a great opportunity for our church family to reach out to the community.”

SAMARITAN’S FEET

Samaritan’s Feet shares hope with children in the U.S. and around the world by washing their feet, giving them a new pair of shoes and helping the children believe that their dreams can come true. Samaritan’s Feet staff feels a new pair of shoes can be a tangible foundation of hope to a person in need.

WINGATE UNIVERSITY

Wingate University, ranked as the 8th “best value” in the South by U.S. News & World Report, serves more than 3,000 students on three campuses in Wingate, Charlotte and Hendersonville, N.C. Founded in 1896, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors, 37 minors and career concentrations, numerous pre-professional programs, graduate degrees in business, accounting, education, physician assistant studies and sport administration, and doctorates in pharmacy, physical therapy and education.

With a 14 to 1 student/teacher ratio, Wingate students gain the tools and support needed to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. To view current news, video and story ideas, visit www.youtube.com/wingateuniversity.

In addition to a robust intramural athletics program, Wingate student athletes compete in 22 NCAA Division II sports. The University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past eight years. For more information, go to www.wingate.edu.

Wingate is first among NCAA Division II Academic All-America®-producing colleges in the 2000’s with 67 selections. Among North Carolina’s colleges and universities, Wingate’s 67 Academic All-America® honorees are number one during this millennium. Wingate’s 76 lifetime Academic All-America® picks are tops among all SAC schools. For more information on WU athletics, go to www.wingatebulldogs.com.

(Wingate University Admissions visit coordinator Jessica Teague contributed this article. Teague and her family are members at Benton Heights Presbyterian Church.)

Source: http://www.wingatebulldogs.com/news/2014/7/28/MSOC_0728143151.aspx

The Auburn University Athletics Department takes action to help in the fight against hunger through a partnership with the End Child Hunger in Alabama (ECHA) campaign article on http://www.wtvm.com/

“As an athlete, I feel like I have the opportunity to make an impact on and off the golf course. Kids living in our own communities are hungry, but we can do something about it. That’s why Amanda and I got involved with Blessings in a Backpack which provides snacks for kids to take home with them on the weekends during the school year. I’m proud to see my alma mater get involved in this important effort and wholeheartedly support it,” Dufner said.

The Auburn Athletics’ hunger initiative slogan, “Ever to Feed; Never to Need,” is a play on a line in the Auburn fight song, “Ever to Conquer; Never to Yield.”

“Our goal is to help raise awareness, raise money and help with food distribution. This is a wonderful community service opportunity for our student-athletes that will be our priority initiative,” Jacobs added.

Nearly 16 million children in America experience some kind of food insecurity. Of the more than 1 million children in Alabama, nearly one-third live in homes that experience food hardships.

“Having Auburn Athletics become a fully engaged partner in ECHA is a dynamic catalyst that will take our initiative to the next level. Together we will work to the best of our ability to ensure that all of our State’s children and youth have access to the nutritious foods that are required for healthy growth and development and productive citizenship,” said Harriet Giles, managing director of the Hunger Solutions Institute and chairman of the ECHA Task Force.

In addition to the partnership, Ivey also announced the great success of summer feeding programs in Alabama. ECHA exceeded its goal to increase the number of summer feeding sites and sponsors by 10 percent in 2014.

“When school is out for the summer, many students lose a reliable source of food at mealtimes. Working with the Department of Education, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wal-Mart Foundation, local charitable organizations like the Boys and Girls Club, and many other stakeholders, Alabama added 274 summer feeding sites in 2014 and enrolled 40,000 more students for summer lunch,” she said. “But we are just getting started.”

The goal of ECHA is to move Alabama from the bottom one-third of states with the greatest child food insecurity into the top one-quarter of states with the greatest child food security by 2020.”

Source: http://www.wtvm.com/story/26113817/auburn-athletics-partners-with-hunger-solutions-institute-in-end-child-hunger-campaign

HOUSTON — The Cougars’ summer of giving continued this week, as members of the women’s basketball team split up and volunteered at three different Star of Hope locations on Thursday.

While the outing marked the second time UH has volunteered with the Star of Hope this summer, the experience also served as the Cougars’ first community service outing with their newly appointed mentors. Houston launched its original student-athlete mentor program back on June 19.

“This was such a great experience, not only because it gave the team another opportunity to give back, but the athletes were able to do it with their mentors,” said director of student-athlete services Kassen Gunderman. “The mentors got a chance to see what these student-athletes do every week and I think they got just as much out of the experience as the athletes did.”

The Cougars and their mentors spent the afternoon preparing and serving nutritious meals for hundreds of people within the Houston community.

Star of Hope is a Christ-centered community dedicated to meeting the needs of homeless men, women and their children. Positive life changes are encouraged through structured programs that focus on spiritual growth, education, employment, life management and recovery from substance abuse. To find out how you can help, visit www.sohmission.org.

To read more visit: http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/cypresscreek/sports/cougar-basketball-cougars-team-up-with-mentors-at-star-of/article_d66005a8-1421-11e4-9415-001a4bcf887a.html

HAMDEN, Conn. – Members of the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team spent their morning at Wilbur Cross High School on Thursday, helping out at the Yale-New Haven Hospital and New Haven Police Department (NHPD) PAL Summer Camp – Health and Fitness Day.

Junior James Ford, Jr. (Hopewell, Va.) and sophomores Kasim Chandler (Newark, N.J.) and Alain Chigha (Gainesville, Fla.) joined Director of Basketball Operations Mike Papale at the month-long, all-day summer camp in New Haven. On this particular day, children engaged in physical activities including Zumba, Karate and of course a game of basketball. Quinnipiac’s student-athletes served as honorary coaches and referees while trying to teach little techniques and skills about the sport.

“We really enjoyed making the trip to New Haven to help out the summer camp,” said Ford, who completed his second year with the Bobcats’ basketball program this past year. “So many kids attend our games throughout the season, so it’s a great way to give back to the local communities.”

The PAL Summer Camp runs from July 1 to Aug. 1. Participants take part in educational, physical and fun activities and go on a number of off-site field trips, such as a New Britain Rock Cats game, bowling and roller-skating, said Sgt. Elisa Tuozzoli, who is in charge of organizing the camp. There were 150 participants in 2013, which doubled from 75 in 2012. This year, 200 students attended the camp.

Quinnipiac student-athletes are on their summer schedule, taking classes and preparing for the 2014-15 season. The Quinnipiac University men’s basketball team kicks off the 2014-15 campaign on Friday, November 14, 2014 against cross-town rival Yale in the sixth annual Connecticut 6 Classic at the TD Bank Sports Center in Hamden.

Student-athletes, parents and fans can download the QU Athletics schedules to your laptop and mobile devices for free by clicking in the iCalendar link at the bottom of each sport’s homepage or the master schedule page. Fans can also follow Quinnipiac Athletics on Facebook and Twitter (@QUAthletics) for all of the latest news and update.

Source: http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com/sports/mbkb/2013-14/releases/20140714qru76l

The ISU men’s basketball team’s regular season does not begin for about four months, but the squad has been busy on-campus since the 2013-14 school year ended in May with summer workouts and classes.

In addition to partaking in two activities that embody ISU men’s basketball student athletes by putting in work on the court in summer workouts and in the classroom, the squad recently participated in a community service activity away from the confines of Redbird Arena.

The ISU men’s basketball team took its talents off-campus by volunteering at the KinderCare Learning Center in Bloomington. The foursome of junior guard DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell, senior guard Daishon Knight, sophomore center Reggie Lynch and manager John Putyrski spent about an hour with 25 kids at KinderCare.

“It was fun to spend time with the children at KinderCare,” Lynch said. “We played basketball with the kids and showed them some of the drills we do in practice. The kids loved it and asked a lot of questions.”

The ISU men’s basketball team opens its schedule of games with an exhibition contest against Lewis on Nov. 10 at 7:05 p.m. at Redbird Arena followed by its home regular season opener against Utah State on Nov. 16 at 2:05 p.m. But before then, the squad plans to take part in other volunteer activities in the Bloomington-Normal area, in addition to perfecting its craft on the court and in the classroom.

Source: http://www.videtteonline.com/index.php/2014/07/22/redbird-basketball-volunteers-at-kindercare/