By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee completed two major philanthropic projects this past fall. The events were a Food Drive for Marion Polk Food Share on Nov. 11-12 and delivering Bearcat Boxes to Salem Hospital Pediatrics on Dec. 11. The SAAC will participate in additional community service projects during the 2023 spring semester.
SAAC Executive Board members who led the fall philanthropic efforts were football player Ryan Johns, women's lacrosse players Catie Kawamura and Shelby Sawyer, football student assistant coach Conor Mullany, and women's basketball player Ashley Collins.
Student-athletes from all 20 of Willamette's intercollegiate teams donated items to the food drive. They also encouraged others to bring non-perishable food items to donate while attending Bearcat basketball games on Nov. 11 and the home football game on Nov. 12. A total of 1,380 meals plus an additional $158 were provided to Marion Polk Food Share during the Food Drive. In addition, student-athletes contributed 10 hours of service by working on advertising, securing donations on gameday, counting cans, and delivering canned goods to MPFS.
The top three teams in the Food Drive were women's basketball, women's lacrosse, and softball.
"I was very impressed by the amount of food we were able to donate to Marion Polk, from not only our athletes but the donations from many family members, friends and community members," Collins said. "Specifically, it was great to see so many individuals within our community donate items and cash donations at the football game. One of the things we have been working on as a SAAC has been to create greater outreaches into our community and this is a very good first step into expanding that goal."
"Donations and contributions came from all over the Willamette community which led to the success of the food drive," Kawamura, a SAAC Co-President, noted.
"There were a lot of different people helping out to bring in food ... professors, students, parents, even parents of teams we were playing," Knapp commented regarding the involvement of many individuals and teams in the Food Drive.
Members of Willamette's SAAC participated in the Food Drive in a variety of ways.
"I participated in several ways, one of which was making sure I got together with my team, women's basketball, to make sure we were all going to be involved and do our part in helping those who are less fortunate," Collins recalled. "As a team we got together and purchased 210 cans. I also helped in working the football booth to collect cans and receive donations."
Knapp said that "I spread the word to everyone I knew about the food drive. I offered for people to give me money to buy cans for them before my big Costco trip, where I got a bunch of cans thanks to my teammates' donations."
Bearcats also helped with promoting the Food Drive. It was important to inform students, faculty, staff, and others about the Food Drive in order to maximize the amount of food and money that would be donated to Marion Polk Food Share. In addition, the Food Drive was a friendly competition between Willamette's SAAC and the SAACs at other NWC colleges and universities.
"It was really cool to try your hardest to spread the word about the canned food drive in hopes of beating the other schools in our conference, but in the end we were all working together to get as much food to help out the communities around us as possible," Knapp said.
"I really enjoyed getting to create graphics for this event and promote it throughout social media, because unlike other events, this one was so much more than just a sports game," Collins said. "I really wanted to ensure that we were able to reach a wide audience and for it to gain attention."
All of Willamette's teams were represented when the SAAC sponsored an Athletics Winter Social on Dec. 5. In addition to participating in a cookie decorating competition, drinking hot chocolate, and pieing SAAC Executive Board Members, the student-athletes built Bearcats Boxes for Salem Hospital Pediatrics. The boxes were for children in the Pediatric Unit at Salem Hospital, and included a note along with several gifts to brighten their day. Members of the Executive Board added a note and a small gift for each of the caregivers as well.
"The Winter Athlete Social where we constructed the Bearcat Boxes was really fun because of the huge participation of our student-athletes," Kawamura stated. "Everyone who participated did an awesome job with the Bearcat Boxes, while putting in handwritten notes."
"I enjoyed getting to decorate cookies and talk with other athletes who I normally don't see on a regular basis," Collins recalled. "I also enjoyed how much fun everyone had when it came to pieing the Executive Board, popping balloons to de-stress, as well as doing a cookie decorating competition."
"It was fun because of how many people showed up!" Knapp said. "I was thankful for everyone who came out and had fun to make our hard work of planning it worthwhile. It was also cool to have different activities from the cookie decorating competition and balloon popping to learning about mental health, making Bearcat Boxes for the hospital, and getting to pie SAAC Executive Board members and coaches."
On Dec. 11, student-athletes from the football team, volleyball team, and women's lacrosse team brought the Bearcat Boxes to Salem Hospital. A total of 40 boxes were created and delivered.
"I had the opportunity to go and deliver the boxes at Salem Health and all of the people we talked to were very appreciative of our efforts," Kawamura said. "During the holiday season, there were a large number of kids at Salem Health and we were able to give boxes to everyone who was there, and give the extras to the staff for kids who would come in afterward."
