WASHINGTON – It’s only natural that during the course of an academic year, student-athletes can get caught up in school work, games, practices and trying to enjoy their college experience. When given a chance to step back and reflect, however, they realize the opportunities they have and how they can help their community.

Members of the Georgetown Student-Athlete Advisory Committee had a chance to do that this past weekend, helping out in the community. Team members from field hockey and women’s soccer took part in Cleanup DC Day as Georgetown helped to celebrate National Student-Athlete Day.

It was one of two instances last weekend with Georgetown student-athletes involved in the community, as the Hoya baseball team spent the last two months raising more than $46,000 for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation for cancer research. The culmination of that fund-raising was held on Saturday after the team’s game against Xavier, when the players shaved their heads.

“I am incredibly proud of SAAC for our day of service,” senior volleyball player and SAAC President Annalee Abell (Lexington, Ky./Henry Clay) said. “Our mission is always to make an impact in the DC community but also to support our fellow teams. I think the group found the DC Clean Up Project rewarding. I am so glad we were able to support the baseball team as well against Xavier. The amount of money that they raised for St. Baldrick’s was truly inspiring and I am glad we were there for it.”

Earlier that day, members of the Georgetown SAAC took part in the 22nd Annual National Student-Athlete Day by meeting with other members of the community and helping to clean up part of Rock Creek Park in the District.

National Student-Athlete Day honors student-athletes and the network of parents, coaches, teachers and school systems that make it possible for young people to strike a balance between academic and athletic achievement and who use sport as a vehicle for positive social change. The day, established by the National Consortium for Academics & Sports, is co-sponsored by the NCAA and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and Northeastern University’s Sport in Society.

For the student-athletes involved, it was a chance to give back to the community.

“It was great to be able to give back and help out,” freshman field hockey player Hailey Vann (Yorktown, Va./Tabb) said. “As a student-athlete at a rigorous academic university, sometimes it is hard to step back, take a break from studying or playing and do something good for others. I think this is what SAAC is all about and the cleanup was a great experience.”

“It was great to get off campus and in the sun with my teammates, and contribute to a D.C. wide project,” freshman field hockey player Maria McDonald (Center Valley, Pa./Southern Lehigh) said. “Getting involved with the community outside of GU athletics is important to our team, and we were excited to be a part of such a good cause.”

The group, led by Assistant Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Leadership & Development Dr. Mike Lorenzen, was asked to take a chance and reflect on their opportunities during the morning.

“I think it is incredibly important to remember that we, as college athletes at Georgetown, are more than just students and more than just athletes,” freshman women’s soccer player Hannah Howell (Bradenton, Fla./St. Stephens Episcopal) said. “We have so many things that are important to us, and community service is definitely an important aspect of our college experience.”

“As a Georgetown student-athlete, and more specifically as a member of the field hockey team, we want our influence to reach beyond the field and the classroom and into the greater D.C. area,” freshman Molly Thompson (Ann Arbor, Mich./Ann Arbor Pioneer) said. “Participating in SAAC’s clean-up of Rock Creek Park was a great opportunity for my teammates, fellow student-athletes, and I to contribute to the community and enjoy some warm spring weather.”

From the morning to the afternoon, it was a rewarding day for all of those involved.

“I felt like we made a pretty significant impact on the park,” junior swimmer Emily Hall (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) said. “Not only because we made it cleaner, but also the fact that we cleaned it sets a precedent for that area, which feeds into Rock Creek and eventually the Potomac to keep it clean. And then watching the baseball team shave their heads was amazing; you could tell they were all more than happy to do it.”

Source: http://www.guhoyas.com/genrel/041014aaa.html

AUBURN, Ala. – For many student-athletes at Auburn, showcasing talent in their sport isn’t the only thing on their resume. Many have proven to be true Auburn men and women on and off the field. Melena Smith, a junior on the equestrian team, in particular, has made a huge impact on the community and individuals around her.

The Auburn equestrian team has won the Athletics Department’s community service award for eight years running, since the awards inception. It comes as no surprise when looking at the large number of projects and lives the Auburn equestrian team has impacted during that time.

The SEC recently named Smith to the league’s equestrian community service team. Finding time between class, practice and workouts is rare for many student-athletes. However, for Smith it was important to dedicate time in her busy schedule to a fourth grader at Yarborough Elementary School, who has become close to Smith’s heart.

For this child*, the past couple of years have been especially difficult. She has been in a foster care program, living with several different foster families. However, having Smith by her side has made the process much easier.

“I was asked to mentor a girl in foster care,” says Smith. “Her story just spoke to me. I hang out with her and eat lunch with her when she is at school. She is a very fun and energetic kid. I have just really enjoyed spending time with her.”

In November of last year, the fourth grader received the news that she would have a forever home with one of the foster families she lived with. Smith was by her side for that entire transition from foster care to adoption.

“I went to the ceremony,” Smith said. “It was very emotional and I was really happy for her. She was really strong about it. She was really excited and couldn’t wait to tell everyone her new last name.”

For Smith, being able to be a part in this process has been has been a great experience.

“I have really loved going through the whole process with her,” says Smith. “I love seeing how much she has grown and how strong she has been through the whole thing. It is really cool to see how strong kids are without even knowing it. She is so happy and really wants to help other people. She is very kind-hearted and just a good soul.”

The parents of the child are very appreciative for Melena’s mentorship and the relationship she has formed with their daughter.

“Having Melena around has been great,” said the mother. “Being able to have that consistency rather than moving around from foster home to foster home has really helped her out, and Melena has been there with her through the process. It has been really helpful that Melena has been there to show support and be a friend.”

Smith was able to provide the child with stability and friendship amidst tough times.

“The whole purpose of foster care is to show the child that there is a different way families can be other than what they have experienced,” said the parent. “Melena has been able to show her what can be done with horseback riding or what you can do as a college student. Maybe she can use this experience and help out other kids in foster care when she gets older like Melena did with her.”

In addition to being a mentor to this girl, Smith has also been involved with the Beat Bama Food Drive, Toys for Tots and the SAAC Clothing Drive. She is also a mentor for the freshman and transfer student-athletes through the Auburn Leadership Institute. Smith has played a major role in helping the rest of the equestrian team get involved and give back to the community.

“As a member of the team I have enjoyed taking on a leadership role and organizing different community service events for the team,” said Smith. “Our coaches really enjoy seeing us do well and we really enjoy getting involved in the community and helping out. We do feel a sense of pride in it, but we do it to give back to the community.”

*names have been omitted to protect the privacy and safety of the family

By Grace Bolin

Source: http://www.auburntigers.com/sports/w-equest/spec-rel/041114aaa.html

Evelyn Ouro-Rodrigues carried a 6-pound ham over her shoulder and dropped it into a box filled with hundreds of other donations to feed local families in need of a holiday meal.

After the Stop & Shop grocery store chain donated 1,500 Easter hams to Island Harvest and Lutheran charities locally and in New York City, track and field varsity captain Ouro-Rodrigues and 39 Long Island Lutheran High School varsity athletes helped unload the hams in the Brookville school’s parking lot on Wednesday.

“LuHi does a lot to get involved in helping the community, especially when it comes to hunger,” said Ouro-Rodrigues, 16, of Valley Stream. “It’s easy to forget that there are people on Long Island in need of help, so we often hold food drives and go on mission trips to help in any way we can.”

The school’s varsity athletes unloaded the hams to Island Harvest representatives, as well as Bishop Robert Alan Rimbo, head of the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Manhattan, for distribution locally and in New York City.

“Whenever we can work with local groups to help alleviate hunger on Long Island and in New York City, we’re happy to help in any way we can,” said Rimbo, of Inwood.

The hams will go to Trinity Church and Mercy Inn in Wyandanch, Transfiguration Lutheran Church in the Bronx, Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Parish in Manhattan and the New LIFE Center food pantry of Lutheran Social Services of New York in Uniondale. The organizations will then distribute the hams to those in need or by soup kitchen.

Randi Shubin Dresner, president and CEO of Island Harvest in Hauppauge, said hunger is a year-round issue on Long Island. More than 300,000 face the risk of going hungry every day and each week about 65,000 Long Islanders utilize local feeding programs.

“Most people don’t know how significant the hunger movement is,” said Shubin Dresner. “Donations like these help us chip away at the problem of hunger.”

Charles Cicio, volunteer food coordinator at Mercy Inn in Wyandanch, dropped by to pick up 75 hams to be cut up and served in the soup kitchen.

“Our soup kitchen feeds up to 150 people a day,” said Cicio, 57, of Lindenhurst. “We’ll be cooking the ham and giving it out with starches and veggies as a hot meal to make the most of the ham we were given. Ham will be on the menu for the next two weeks.”

Source: http://www.newsday.com/long-island/towns/long-island-now-1.1732330/li-lutheran-students-unload-stop-shop-hams-for-needy-1.7657150?p=361401

Read Across Humble is a program started by Humble High School Head Football Coach Charles West. This mentoring program is made up of off-season Humble High School student athletes who have displayed outstanding academics throughout the year.

This group includes football, volleyball and basketball players. The student athletes travel to read and speak to elementary students in the district. Each spring semester, the program will visit one elementary school.

This year, they were able to visit with students at Humble Elementary. West decided to bring this program to Humble to create a chance — for the younger students in the district who look up to athletes — to understand that the student athletes in their community are not just athletes but students first.

Elementary students are not the only ones Read Across Humble benefits. This program also benefits the student athletes. If students are planning on graduating and being a part of an athletic team on the college level, or even the professional level, they will have to participate in many speaking engagements.

The program also gives the athletes the chance to give back to their community with service.

West looks forward to the future of Read Across Humble. He said he hopes to see this program expand across the district and that other programs will also want to get involved.

Source: http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/kingwood/news/humble-high-unveils-new-mentoring-program-read-across-humble/article_11ed4094-4b4f-5553-85be-feb91236099e.html

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – UAB student-athletes visited Glen Iris Elementary Monday as part of a service project for the annual National Student-Athlete Day.

The student-athletes helped out in PE classes all day long. They helped run different stations teaching basketball, hula-hoop, jump rope and rock wall climbing.

National Student-Athlete Day was created in 1987 by the National Consortium for Academics and Sports. Since then, National Student-Athlete Day has gone from recognizing a small number of outstanding student-athletes in 1987 to honoring over 3,440,610 million since 1997. In 2012 alone, over 260,000 student-athletes were recognized.

“Taking part in recess with the kids was a lot of fun. It also gave us a chance to think about how lucky we are to get to play our chosen sports in college as we get an education,” said freshman women’s tennis player Catherine Ragon.

Student-athletes from the sports of men’s basketball, football, women’s tennis, bowling, volleyball and women’s soccer took part in the festivities today. The K-5 students at Glen Iris seemed to enjoy the surprise of having the Blazers in their PE classes throughout the day.

For the latest news on Blazer sports, follow the UAB Athletics Twitter account, @UABathletics. For more information on Blazer student-athletes in the community, follow @UABsaac on Twitter.

Source: http://www.uabsports.com/sports/academics/spec-rel/040714aaa.html