BOYNTON BEACH — Boynton Beach High School juniors and seniors volunteered their time Tuesday to help Habitat for Humanity build homes in Ocean Breeze West.
As part of a new Play It Forward program, the Boynton Beach Police Department will give money to the school’s athletic fund as long as the sports players volunteer in the community.

The department will donate up to $15,000.

“Judging by how many students were out there today and just hearing them talk about it, they’re excited about the program,” said Stephanie Slater, the police department’s spokeswoman. “They’re thankful and appreciative.”

The amount of money the department spends is up to the students. If a student has a 3.5 GPA, police will hand over $3.5 for every hour the athlete works. The student is responsible for keeping track of the hours. At the end of each quarter, the police will ask permission from the City Commission to write a check from seized money to help pay for school athletic programs.

“We’re providing the foundation for it … but it’s really up to them to take it as far as they want to take it,” Slater said.

The Boynton students who volunteered Tuesday were girls and boys from the football, basketball and track teams.

“We’re really out here just giving back to our community. They showed a lot of support to us during our season so it’s only right to come out here and help build homes and do whatever they want us to do,” said Galvan, 17.

“You always want to have some very supportive fans on your side. You never want to go to a game and it’s just you out there,” Galvan said. “It’s really special to have our crowd out there rooting us on even when we’re losing, they’re still out there being great fans so the least we could do is give back to our community.

Boynton Beach Police Chief Jeffrey Katz thought of the program, which is a partnership between the police, the school, Habitat and the Boynton Beach Wildcat program. Students started volunteering a few weeks ago.

“It’s very helpful especially during the summer we have a really hard time getting volunteers out. It really fills a need for us,” said Julia Rowe, Habitat’s volunteer engagement director. “Students that are working on homes in their own community is really great to see.”

One of the homes will be dedicated to a family this month and the second home will be the last of 16 homes for Habitat to finish in Ocean Breeze West.

To read more, please visit the source: http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/local/boynton-police-program-rewards-high-school-athlete/ngbkx/?ecmp=pbp_social_twitter_2014_sfp#a747c2d6.3611111.735422

LAS CRUCES >> Matthew Taylor made the best of his redshirt season with the New Mexico State men’s basketball team last year without playing a minute.

Taylor, a wing out of Canada, couldn’t practice, travel or play games with the Aggies during a NCAA Tournament season. But he still represented the Aggies well. Taylor racked up an incredible 51 hours of community service last year.

“It’s my attitude, I’m a people person and I looked at it as a chance for the community to get to know me since I’m going to be here for a few more years,” Taylor said. “I didn’t have anything to do with my time, so I took the opportunity to help people in the community who support us.”

Under the direction of head coach Marvin Menzies and former video coordinator Josh Daeche, the Aggies finished with a total of 551 hours of community service last year, leading all university men’s teams for the second straight year.

“I feel like our players need to understand that being an Aggie is about more than walking out on the court and playing, it’s being involved with the people of the community and having an affinity for the people who support you and going out and supporting them,” Menzies said. “Quite frankly, it was the way that I was raised. I think it’s an important characteristic for your players to help them develop and grow. I think one thing real men do is give back and I think that was the motivation to go above and beyond the requirements of the athletic department.”

For context, NMSU student-athletes are required to perform 15 hours of community service per year, meaning for the 13 scholarships for men’s basketball, the Aggies surpassed the minimum requirement by 356 hours collectively. Aggies players averaged 31.5 hours of community service per player last year.

“(Menzies) challenged the team overall but I took it upon myself as a challenge individually anytime there was an opportunity to do community service to extend my hours,” Taylor said.

The list of charities and organizations the men’s basketball team worked with last year included the Mesilla Valley Elementary, Las Cruces Boys and Girls Club and El Caldito Soup Kitchen, Sunrise Elementary and the Las Cruces March of Dimes Walk event.

“I was very pleased with the men’s basketball team this year,” said Donna Wood, who has been a volunteer at El Caldito since 1999. “Marvin Menzies has instilled pride in them and a reason to go out there and help the community. I was contacted by (Daeche) and we set up times for them to be here. They were an asset when they were here, but I wouldn’t want to leave anyone out. We have had a lot of support.”

Aggies players worked at the soup kitchen on two separate weekends and worked in food preparation on the morning of Thanksgiving.

“If they are here when we are serving clients, we explain that we serve each person who comes through the doors with no questions and that you are to make everyone feel wanted and they did that,” Wood said.

Boys and Girls Club volunteer coordinator Carina Infante said the children looked forward to when athletes from NMSU came to help.

Former Aggie Renaldo Dixon was second behind Taylor last year in community service with 49 hours, and he still volunteers on a daily basis as part of a class, Infante said.

“We have had a good relationship with them over the past couple of years,” Infante said. “It is good when they come because most of the kids are super into sports and they are always excited to get out and do things outside.”

The Aggies have adopted a charity in the past, but Menzies welcomed all comers last year.

“This year we decided to spread ourselves out to anyone who would ask if it fit in the schedule we would try to accommodate them,” Menzies said. “We welcome people inviting us to support their causes, especially those that involve charity and help speak to the community.”

Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459

Source: http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-sports/ci_26078324/aggies-community

On June 8, members of the CREC Two Rivers Magnet Middle School track and field team experienced the satisfaction of helping other athletes as they volunteered at the Special Olympics Connecticut Summer Games at Southern Connecticut State
University.

In total, thirty-five parents and athletes assisted at Olympic Town, which provides down-time for Special Olympic athletes who are waiting to compete or who have competed in their event for the day. The Two Rivers athletes, who assisted in the

management and operation of the carnival type games, were grateful for their opportunity to work with and motivate the Special Olympians. “This is such a wonderful opportunity for the athletes,” said Donna Donnelly, whose daughter, Jenna Donnelly, was

one of the Two Rivers student volunteers.

Source: http://articles.courant.com/2014-07-02/community/hcrs-90887-east-hartford-20140701_1_special-olympics-crec-rivers-athletes

PILGER — A group of Arlington student athletes and coaches walked down what remained of First Street in Pilger Wednesday. Buckets in hand, they were ready to help.

The street, which had once been lined with homes and businesses, including the Farmers Co-op, was now empty — lined with large holes, remnants of foundations and littered with corn, twisted metal and other debris — following the June 16 twin tornadoes that hit the town.

The only structure that remained, an old co-op building used for storage, was in the process of being demolished.

“It’s good for our kids to see this,” said Morgan Smeal, a second-grade teacher at Arlington Elementary and an assistant girls basketball coach.

Volleyball coach Jessica Scott spearheaded the effort to bring the 18 students and coaches to volunteer in the battered town after seeing some of the devastation while taking her team to a camp in Wayne.

“Even just seeing that little bit was a huge eye-opener for the volleyball girls when we went up there for camp,” Scott said. “It’s unreal when you hear about it on the TV and then you get here and you’ve just never seen anything like it until it happens to surrounding areas and/or yourself.”

“As a coach and athletes that most of these kids here today are, we think of smaller surrounding schools as rivals; however, in the end we all come together and help each other out,” Scott said.

to read more please visit the source: http://www.enterprisepub.com/arlingtoncitizen/news/arlington-athletes-coaches-volunteer-in-tornado-ravaged-town/article_7d9cbaa6-02f6-11e4-b7ac-001a4bcf6878.html

When Newtown High School’s athletes aren’t winning championships or accepting awards, they excel elsewhere by helping others. Every varsity sport at the high school participated in some sort of community service, and most partook in multiple events.

“Community service is at the heart of our athletic department,” said Gregg Simon, athletic director at the school.

Cheerleading volunteered at the Light the Night walk to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, with the Newtown Fund’s Adopt a family program, and at the CH Booth Library Book Sale.

Some sports squads even teamed with others to help a cause, The cheerleading, girls’ and boys’ basketball, and the dance teams came together to help with the Coaches vs Cancer crusade, benefitting the American Cancer Society.

One fundraiser, in particular, that really stands out is the March of Dimes program which helps families deal with premature births. This is especially significant for Marc Kenney, head coach of the girls’ soccer team, whose sons were both born prematurely. “March of Dimes is a charity that is really special to me,” Kenney said. “It really hits home, ya know? I genuinely believe that often charities choose you, and my family has sort of made it our cause,” Kenney said.

Maura Fletcher, coach of the girls’ lacrosse team, and Matt Memoli, coach of the baseball team, have also gotten their teams involved with March of Dimes.

“I said two years ago that I feel like that it is times like this when you realize just how much of a family, not just your own program but the entire Newtown community, really is. It changed my life,” said Kenney.

The volunteer work is significant for the student athletes who gain valuable experiences.

“Community service has played a huge role during my athletic career at Newtown High,” said Anna Northrop, who was captain of the soccer and lacrosse teams team this past season. “It always brings the team closer together because its great to give back to the community that is so supportive of us during the season.”

The March of Dimes fundraiser means so much to not just Northrop, but for every member of the girls’ soccer program in town, and will continue to do so for many years to come, Kenney anticiaptes.

The girls’ basketball team, coached by Jeremy O’Connell, also had its share of fundraiser games. The team held a Threes for Charity basketball tournament at NHS, as well as the Coaches vs. Cancer initiative and, with the help of the Newtown Youth Basketball Association, hosted a Senior Citizen’s Night.

“We felt like celebrities,” said Mary Joe Rossi, a senior captain of the girls’ basketball team this past year. “We invited senior citizens to eat dinner with us, and after that we left to warm up, and they soon followed to stay and watch the game.”

Community service is beneficial on many different levels.

“I think everyone is affected by giving back,” said Kenney. “Whether it is charity work or simply helping out in the community, I feel as if it is just our duty as humans.”

“Its just an awesome experience,” said Rossi. “There is no better reward.”

“The community has always shown incredible support for our program,” said O’Connell. “We feel that anything we can do to give back to Newtown only strengthens that bond between our team and the community. The girls truly enjoy the opportunity to support all of Newtown.

Other fundraisers include the Faith Food Pantry Food Drive, Relay for Life, the Dig Pink Breast Cancer game, the 5K for Sandy Ground in Memory of James Mattioli, Babe Ruth Baseball Clinic, food pantries, and many more causes.

“Our student-athletes willingness to always serve the community says a tremendous amount about their character,” Simon said.

Kenney says that in his teachings over the course of the season, he strives to make each individual on the team a better person.

“When I look at what I want my students athletes to learn, I think just being a good person is most important,” said Kenney. Obviously sportsmanship, accepting defeat, work ethic, etc, are inherent in athletics, but all in all it cannot just be about wins and losses. I always say that those are easily forgotten. The thing that resonates with me is the relationships we have made and the good that we have done.”

Wins and losses come and go, championships are won here and there, but one thing that will always be a part of NHS athletics is community service, and making relationships with the good work that these athletes do.

“In the end, that is long-lasting,” Kenney said.

Source: http://newtownbee.com/news/0001/11/30/newtown-high-athletes-score-points-volunteer-work/216220