Sparkill, N.Y. – The St. Thomas Aquinas student-athletes participated in the school’s annual SIDS walk on their campus on Sunday, September 21st. The athletes gathered donations and participated in a two mile walk around the STAC campus acknowledging the severity of the cause and the need for additional research. All proceeds from the walk will be donated to the CJ Foundation for SIDS.

The CJ Foundation for SIDS is a national charitable organization dedicated to recognizing the special needs of the SIDS community through funding SIDS research, support services and public awareness programs. The Foundation hopes to increase public awareness of SIDS and to contribute to a future in which no parent is faced with the tragedy of losing a loved one to SIDS.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is one of the leading causes of death among infants one month through one year of age in the United States. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) defines SIDS as the sudden death of an infant under one year of age which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene and review of the clinical history. SIDS is therefore a diagnosis of exclusion, affixed only once all known and possible causes of death have been ruled out. SIDS claims the lives of almost 2,500 infants in the US each year. That’s nearly 7 babies every day. SIDS deaths occur unexpectedly and quickly to apparently healthy infants, usually during periods of sleep. It is not caused by suffocation, choking, or smothering. SIDS cannot be predicted or prevented and can claim any baby, in spite of parents doing everything right.

The Student Government Association has worked with STAC President, Dr. Margaret Fitzpatrick to make the SIDS Walk an annual campus event. This year’s walk saw an outpouring of compassion among the athletes along with their fellow students and supporters.

For more information on SIDS or to join the battle make a donation, please visit the CJ Foundation for SIDS at http://www.cjsids.com.

Provided by the St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information Department.

A contingent of Oregon students affiliated with the school’s American Sign Language (ASL) club and student-athletes with the school’s O Heroes program gathered at Pape´ Field on Tuesday to hangout and play sports with local kids in the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community. Students from the Oregon School for the Deaf and kids from the 4J school district came to the ASL event.

“We put a lot of smiles on everyone’s faces and it was really rewarding for us to come out here and to get an impact on the kids,” Oregon defensive lineman TJ Daniel said.

Representatives from the football, women’s basketball, men and women’s track and field, acrobatics and tumbling, volleyball, softball, women’s soccer women’s lacrosse and the cheerleader team shared laughs and smiles with the kids. Members from the American sign language club were also on hand for the event.

The event opened up with a cheer from the Oregon cheerleading squad. The cheerleaders were only slotted to stay at the field for thirty minutes, but after seeing the kids for the first time, three cheerleaders decided to stay and join the experience.

“We wanted to stay a little longer because they were disappointed when we left,” Oregon cheerleader Maggie Rouse said. “They make our day and we want to make their day too.”

The cheerleaders aren’t normally involved with the O Heroes program. So when Rouse, and fellow cheerleaders Julianna Sick and Caroline Issac, got the opportunity to be a part of the event, they jumped at it.

“It’s so incredible for us because we don’t get to do a lot of O Heroes stuff so when we get invited we get really excited,” Rouse said. “It’s so rewarding for us to be able to teach them some things that we know.”

One of the most experienced student-athletes in ASL is women’s basketball forward Jillian Alleyne. Growing up Alleyne’s mother had a co-worker that was Deaf. Alleyne would watch the woman use her nine-year old son as a translator and it inspired her.

“I thought it was the coolest thing,” Alleyne said. “When I went to my first high school they had it, so I was like ‘I’m taking it’ and I’ve been taking it for five years now.”

Today’s event was not only a chance for Alleyne to hangout with kids — something she loves to do whenever possible — but to see the way people in the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community interact.

“What I love about this event is how the Deaf kids are so vivid in what they do,” Aleyne said. “You can’t see what they’re signing but you can see through their face and their facial expressions.”

Oregon football safety Juwaan Williams does not practice ASL, but he decided he wanted to help out with the kids anyways. What he didn’t envision was wearing a chest protector, a goalie mask and standing in between a lacrosse goal. The kids took their turns running through cones before loading and firing a shot at Williams in between the net.

Jonathan Sierra, a football player at the Oregon school for the Deaf, dropped the ball out of his stick twice. Each time, Sierra would pick up the ball and jog to the back of the line. On his third attempt, Sierra fired the ball off of Williams and into the back of the net. Sierra, a major fan of Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, enjoyed his first experience with lacrosse.

“This is the first time playing lacrosse and I had no experience with it at all,” Sierra said through a translator. “It was great to see.”

Williams saved the first six attempts from the kids before giving up the goal to Sierra. After, he thought extremely highly of Sierra’s lacrosse ability.

“He needs a scholarship to Johns Hopkins right now,” Williams said jokingly. “That kid is a scorer.”

At the end of the day, it became blatantly obvious that the student-athletes benefited form the day just as much as the visiting kids.

“Giving back to the community, whenever we can, is a great opportunity for us,” Williams said. “It’s like you’re a kid again. They don’t look at you as an adult. You’re just a regular kid to them living the dream.”

Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @JoeJHoyt

Source: http://dailyemerald.com/2014/09/23/o-heroes-student-athletes-come-together-for-asl-event/

BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Sept. 23, 2014) – On Friday, the LIU Post women’s basketball team volunteered at the St. John’s Place Family Residence, a shelter that helps homeless families transition into affordable housing.

The Pioneers had 11 players lend a hand in four different departments throughout the shelter: day care, maintenance, social services and administration.

St. John’s Place Family Center was established in 1990 as a temporary residence for homeless families in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Their original mission was to transition homeless families into safe and affordable housing. The founders were the Brooklyn Neighborhood Improvement Association, Citizen’s Committee for Children and Settlement Housing Fund.

In 1996, in response to legislative changes in welfare reform, St. John’s Place Family Center undertook a strategic planning process that resulted in a broader mission: helping homeless families achieve and sustain self-sufficiency. Toward that mission, their comprehensive programs include day care, after school programs, a training and employment program for adults, a youth build program, a social services program, and more.

For more information about the women’s basketball program at LIU Post, continue to visit LIUPostPioneers.com.

BY TY PARKER
Texas Tech Athletics Communications | Special to TexasTech.com

The Texas Tech baseball team achieved its dream of playing in the College World Series this past summer, but last week they got to make the dreams of a few others come true as well.

Nearly 20 members of the Red Raider baseball squad, including head coach Tim Tadlock, visited Covenant Children’s Hospital last Wednesday to interact with hospitalized children suffering from a wide range of health conditions and illnesses.

The student-athletes surprised the children in their hospital rooms, presented them with autographed baseballs, and even took time to pose for pictures as they conversed about such topics as Spiderman and the Disney Channel.

The visit was the initial outing planned as part of the new Red Raider Reach program, created by Texas Tech men’s basketball player Clark Lammert, which is designed to create a consistent effort of outreach into the Lubbock community by all Texas Tech’s athletics programs.

“The Red Raider Reach program is something I thought of this summer,” said Lammert, who is entering his final season with the Red Raider basketball team. “I’m a senior and I only have a year left of having this platform, having these connections, and having the ability to start something like this. I approached our athletics director, Kirby Hocutt, with this opportunity. I think getting our student-athletes to come over here and hang out with the kids is going to be something that not only benefits the kids, but also benefits our student-athletes.”

Sophomore left-handed pitcher Dylan Dusek was among the student-athletes at the hospital and felt honored for the opportunity to engage with the children.

“We are always feeling privileged to come in and excite the kids, ask them some questions, talk to them, and give them a ball signed by our team,” Dusek said. “They probably haven’t talked to anyone all day except their parents or the nurse, so it means a lot to make their day because you know they are Texas Tech fans being out here in Lubbock.”

Sophomore right-hander Ryan Moseley, who graduated in 2013 from Lubbock Cooper High School, thoroughly enjoyed his first experience with the Red Raider Reach program and believes there are many lessons the student-athletes can take home with them as well.

I’ve learned to be thankful for what you have,” Mosley said. “There are other people in unfortunate situations. To see these kids and the way they fight helps you out in everyday life. They could be having a bad day, but when we come in, their faces light up. It means a lot for us to come out here and give back to them. That’s what we need to be doing and it feels really rewarding. – Ryan Moseley

The program, which aims to help Texas Tech student-athletes reach 2,000 hours of community service involvement in 2014-2015, will take two teams per month to Lubbock area hospitals. Spring sports such as baseball, softball and track and field will be involved during the fall semester while fall sports such as football, volleyball and soccer will make visits through the spring semester during their off-seasons. With Red Raider teams currently booked for visits through December, those involved in creating these opportunities are confident the momentum will carry over into the spring semester and be sustained on a yearly basis.

“Clark came to me with this new initiative and it’s awesome,” said Chloe Barnes, Texas Tech Athletics Director of Student-Athlete Affairs. “We have bookings with these visits with teams up until January. It is something we are starting now, but it is also something we hope to continue year after year.”

Barnes feels sometimes student-athletes may get so caught up in the daily grind that they forget how lucky they really are and hopes the Red Raider Reach gives them a sense of perspective.

“I hope they realize how truly blessed and fortunate they are to be a student-athlete at Texas Tech,” Barnes said.

Lammert knows this opportunity can do so much for not only the children and the student-athletes, but also the families who are here at the hospital as well. This initiative can serve the community in so many ways.

“Getting out here and trying to make a kids day, trying to have an impact on a kids life, trying to make them smile is the least we can all do,” Lammert said. “We are also able to talk to these parents, they’re so grateful, because these parents go through a lot having their kids in the hospital and showing them that Texas Tech cares about them. We can show them that they’re not alone in this process. It’s a hard process. Having these athletes come out really gives these kids hope and gives them hope to keep fighting.”

MANCHESTER, Conn. — On September 17th at Verplanck Elementary School, representatives from a handful of UConn athletics teams volunteered to participate in the Annual Husky Reach BBQ Kickoff. Men’s Basketball, Women’s Lacrosse, Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving, Women’s Ice Hockey, and Women’s Track & Field were all represented at this fun-filled event. The student-athletes spent time getting to know the kids as well as playing sports with them outside on the elementary school’s field facilities.

Husky Reach, a partnership program with UConn Athletics and the SMB Charitable Foundation, touches the lives of local children and families by inspiring the kids to work hard and take their school work to heart in order to pursue a college education. This beneficial program gives the athletes the opportunity to read at local schools to children in grades K-5. Additionally, the athletes talk to the children about how hard they have to work in order to have success in their sports and in their classrooms. The Verplanck students also get to come to campus throughout the year and attend a basketball game.

Student-athletes who participate in Husky Reach get to contribute to Verplanck Elementary’s goal of one million minutes of reading as a student body. Free reading time and classroom reading assignments will contribute to this year-end goal in addition to the Husky Reach readings.

This event and the Husky Reach program is one of the many ways UConn Athletics is showing they care about the future by providing children with great role models to follow as well as an opportunity to become inspired by their success and achieve their own success in the future.

Source: http://www.uconnhuskies.com/genrel/091914aab.html