Photo by: SMC Athletics / Brian Brownfield
Gaels Give Back During 2022 Fall Semester
12/30/2022 11:00:00 AM | General, Men's Basketball, Men's Soccer, Men's Tennis, Women's Volleyball
MORAGA, Calif. — The concept of #GaelsRise goes beyond just performance on the playing surface. #GaelsRise in the classroom, and in the local community, which is what we saw plenty of during the 2022 fall semester. In one semester, Saint Mary's student-athletes logged nearly 200 hours of community service projects, from food drives to Ronald McDonald house visits. Let's look at some of the highlights of from various service projects completed by our teams in the fall semester.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
In the midst of a busy semester on the court, the Gaels have been busy in the local community helping with multiple causes during the end of 2022. During the Saint Mary's career fair, the Gaels co-hosted a booth with Be The Match, an organization that helps cancer patients find life-saving marrow donors while providing support through the transplant process. The Gaels encouraged others to sign up to become bone marrow transplants while informing the public about the importance of becoming a donor for those with cancers like leukemia and lymphoma.
The Gaels also made their presence felt in Fort Worth, Texas before their neutral-site game against the top-ranked Cougars of the University of Houston. Saint Mary's and their staff went and visited the Ronald McDonald House and spent the afternoon touring the facility while also spending time with some of the children there and helping them dunk on their basketball hoops.
VOLLEYBALL
Saint Mary's Volleyball has done great work in the community before, with their LIGHT: Gaels Against Human Trafficking club. This semester, the team spent a day with Starlings Volleyball in Oakland and played with younger girls in the club. Starlings Volleyball aims to provide "at-risk, disadvantaged youth with equal access to quality volleyball programs, regardless of financial hardship, ethnicity or skill level through exposure to training and participation in the sport of volleyball." It was founded in 1996 and has clubs all around the country.
MEN'S SOCCER + MEN'S TENNIS
Both Men's Soccer and Men's Tennis spent time this semester in the Saint Mary's Legacy Garden, a name the space has held since given the name by the Class of 2012. Men's Soccer spent a day cleaning out the garden and preparing it for the year while Men's Tennis spent weekly time there throughout the semester planting and harvesting the garden. The Legacy Garden is a half-acre in size and produces thousands of pounds of fresh produce that winds up in the menu offerings inside the dining hall on campus. It aims to "enhance academic learning and achievement, promote physical and emotional health, encourage organic practices, and cultivate empathy for people and the planet."
SAAC
The Saint Mary's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) led their "Gaels SAAC Hunger" Food Drive during the Holidays and helped collect and provide meals for those in need in Contra Costa County. Through donation bins at basketball game inside University Credit Union Pavilion and around campus, the SAAC was able to help provide nearly 350 meals through donations and another 100 pounds of food for the Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano. All teams were competing against one another internally to see who could collect the most, with Golf, Softball, and Women's Tennis gathering the most food for local communities.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
In the midst of a busy semester on the court, the Gaels have been busy in the local community helping with multiple causes during the end of 2022. During the Saint Mary's career fair, the Gaels co-hosted a booth with Be The Match, an organization that helps cancer patients find life-saving marrow donors while providing support through the transplant process. The Gaels encouraged others to sign up to become bone marrow transplants while informing the public about the importance of becoming a donor for those with cancers like leukemia and lymphoma.
The Gaels also made their presence felt in Fort Worth, Texas before their neutral-site game against the top-ranked Cougars of the University of Houston. Saint Mary's and their staff went and visited the Ronald McDonald House and spent the afternoon touring the facility while also spending time with some of the children there and helping them dunk on their basketball hoops.
VOLLEYBALL
Saint Mary's Volleyball has done great work in the community before, with their LIGHT: Gaels Against Human Trafficking club. This semester, the team spent a day with Starlings Volleyball in Oakland and played with younger girls in the club. Starlings Volleyball aims to provide "at-risk, disadvantaged youth with equal access to quality volleyball programs, regardless of financial hardship, ethnicity or skill level through exposure to training and participation in the sport of volleyball." It was founded in 1996 and has clubs all around the country.
MEN'S SOCCER + MEN'S TENNIS
Both Men's Soccer and Men's Tennis spent time this semester in the Saint Mary's Legacy Garden, a name the space has held since given the name by the Class of 2012. Men's Soccer spent a day cleaning out the garden and preparing it for the year while Men's Tennis spent weekly time there throughout the semester planting and harvesting the garden. The Legacy Garden is a half-acre in size and produces thousands of pounds of fresh produce that winds up in the menu offerings inside the dining hall on campus. It aims to "enhance academic learning and achievement, promote physical and emotional health, encourage organic practices, and cultivate empathy for people and the planet."
SAAC
The Saint Mary's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) led their "Gaels SAAC Hunger" Food Drive during the Holidays and helped collect and provide meals for those in need in Contra Costa County. Through donation bins at basketball game inside University Credit Union Pavilion and around campus, the SAAC was able to help provide nearly 350 meals through donations and another 100 pounds of food for the Food Bank of Contra Costa & Solano. All teams were competing against one another internally to see who could collect the most, with Golf, Softball, and Women's Tennis gathering the most food for local communities.
#GaelsRise
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