Stony Brook, N.Y. – The Stony Brook Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) was involved in numerous community service efforts during the fall semester, including a fall food drive, Stuff-a-Bus holiday toy drive and a breakfast with the League of Yes.
Fall Food Drive
Led by SAAC Event Specialist Sam Jaffe, the SAAC collected over 1,000 items during the months of October and November and donated the collection to the Stony Brook University On-Campus Food Pantry. SAAC members and their teammates collected food items at local grocery stores. The food drive was in collaboration with the “AE Food Frenzy”, an America East SAAC Initiative aimed to create community and connection across the conference institutions. Each school collected canned goods and delivered a box to an America Easr partner school to be delivered to a local charity of choice.
As an event specialist on the executive board in SAAC, I was responsible for leading and delegating all responsibilities to run an effective food drive. I developed strategies to collect canned goods such as talking to local store managers for donations, assigning volunteers to stand outside of supermarkets to collect from customers, and from there we loaded up the van and dropped it off at the food pantry.
It is important to me to be involved in initiatives like the Fall Food Drive as a student-athlete because I know that nutrition is important and athletes need the proper foods to stay fit and healthy. As an athlete, it is great to give back to the community, and show what athletes do off the field.
– Sam Jaffe, Women’s Lacrosse
League of YES Breakfast with Santa
Student-athletes from women’s tennis, baseball, women’s lacrosse, softball and women’s soccer volunteered as buddies at the League of YES Breakfast with Santa on Dec. 5.
The League of YES mission is to establish and sustain baseball programs for people of all ages and disabilities. Buddies are there to protect the players from balls, assist the players in batting and running the bases, and to be a friend of and off the field. The Stony Brook University Athletic Department was awarded a community service award during halftime of the men’s basketball game on Dec. 5 in appreciation for the dedication of the hard work and dedication to the League of YES.\
“One of the most iconic lines from the movie Elf is Will Ferrell screaming ‘It’s Santa!’ If one could imagine 20 children who are anxiously waiting for Santa to come on Christmas receive an early surprise from him at the League of YES breakfast, it is the same reaction. At the League’s Breakfast with Santa, a customary part of the organization is to allow every child a chance to bat. They say that every picture is a thousand words but the photos of every student athlete running, tagging, or walking the bases with their buddy gives one the idea that there is good in this world. One might not know it but these children are what put smiles on every single person that day because they were able to laugh so much and have fun. All these little kids wanted to do was run around, throw a baseball, and be loved by even more people.”
– Nichole Doran, women’s lacrosse
Stuff-a-Bus Holiday Toy Drive
Seawolf student-athletes took part in a holiday toy drive for patients at the Stony Brook pediatric oncology center. The Stony Brook SAAC, in conjunction with the athletic marketing department and Clare Rose, collected gifts to deliver to the children in late December.
“As our school and department has grown so has Stuff-A-Bus. It isn’t just about donating gifts to the children’s hospital anymore. The nurses told us my freshman year how much the kids look forward to us coming because for however long we are there, their pain is not there because we are helping them heal. For me, that is where it truly hit me how much we as student-athletes mean to the community.”
– Nichole Doran, women’s lacrosse
“Clare Rose is a proud local Long Island Company that has established strong ties to the Community, businesses and most importantly the people on the Island. Partnering with Stony Brook around such a heartfelt initiative gave our organization a great opportunity to give back to those who need it the most, at a time that matters the most. We would like to truly thank Stony Brook for allowing us to participate in the toy drive and look forward to expanding on similar opportunities to give back to the local community throughout 2016.
Finally, we all have different tasks and goals when it comes to business, however, the truest reward is being able to mobilize a team to do some good!”
– Matthew Holthaus, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Clare Rose
