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CRESSON – Becoming involved in an athletic team at Mount Aloysius College involves much more than what goes on in the field or arena of competition.
Each athletic team undertakes at least one service project each year, and many individual athletes do much more.
Early in the spring semester, the Mount Aloysius women’s basketball team helped pack bags for the Mountain Lion Backpack group. The Mountain Lion BackPacks is a non-profit corporation that provides two breakfast meals, two lunches, two dinners, two drinks and two snacks in a backpack to needy elementary school children in the Altoona Area School District.
The backpacks are distributed every Friday for their weekend meals over 32 weeks of the school year. This happens from October to May. The Mountain Lion Backpack Program is currently serving nearly 600 students in the Penn Lincoln, Baker and Juniata Gap Schools every weekend.
In providing school children with food, Mountain Lion Backpacks hopes to nourish their bodies, prepare their minds, and encourage their spirits. The Lady Mounties were able to meet people in the community who prepare the backpacks throughout the year and in so doing give back to the local community. Program coordinators hope to expand to all eight elementary programs and help as many children as possible.
“As a team, we hope to continue to do this event every year, and we look forward to helping young children in the area in any way that we can,” women’s basketball coach Kristi Little-Kaack said.
The Mountie men’s basketball team also helped local youth in the Central Cambria School District in earlier this semester. In January, the Central Cambria School District’s, Jackson Elementary had to cancel its popular afterschool intramural program. Jackson principal Tricia Murin was not ready to concede the loss of the program and began to search for alternative solutions.
Murin reached out to men’s basketball coach Lance Loya and asked if he would consider volunteering to run a week-long afterschool basketball program for their fourth and fifth graders. In response, Loya took the Mount Aloysius College men’s basketball team to the elementary school. For an entire week they taught the aspiring youngsters basketball skills, as well as lessons on sportsmanship and teamwork.
In February, the Mountie women’s bowling team raised funds for the Geisinger Health System’s Children’s Miracle Network. The funds provide equipment, programs and services for children by treated by Geisinger. The project was in cooperation with Re/Max Professional Reality, which sponsors and organizes the event which was held at Pleasant Valley Bowling Center in Altoona.
The team, comprised of seven young women and team manager Ashley Heuston, collected money through a week-long event on the Mount Aloysius College campus. The Mountie bowlers also educated everyone on campus about the Children’s Miracle Network and how they provide comfort, treatment and hope to millions of sick kids not only in our community but across the country.
This past Saturday, the Mount Aloysius men’s and women’s soccer teams conducted a soccer clinic in conjunction with the Mercy Youth Initiative. The Mercy Youth Initiative is designed to give 7th, 8th, and 9th graders from the Penn Cambria School District opportunities to be mentored by college students. Mount Aloysius athletic teams have been very active in working with the Mercy Youth Initiative. This past Saturday the soccer teams organized various games including soccer and kickball in the Mount Aloysius Athletic, Convocation and Wellness Center. The event was a blast for all concerned.
On an individual level, Mountie women’s basketball player Morgan Brosnihan and women’s tennis captain Laura Stahli went to Guyana on a service trip with other students over the college’s spring break last week. Stahli and Brosnihan were not strangers to the people of Guyana. The two went there before and may do so again; both are inspired by the needs of the people of Guyana.
“I was amazed to find that there were children who remembered meeting me from my first experience. I guess you never realize the potential impact you have on others until something like that happens. The children that I get to meet are always the highlight of my experience,” Stahli said.
While on the trip, the group volunteered at two orphanages, one for infant children to five-year old boys, and another for five to 16-year old boys. They served at a Sisters of Charity daycare facility and a school for intellectually challenged and deaf children.
“There were so many interesting people that we met along the way and everyone was so happy to talk to us. They told us about their lives, their faith, what they loved about their country, and taught us many lessons. Guyana is an amazing place,” said Ms. Stahli, “and I hope that I will be able to return in the near future.”
A major service event on the horizon for the women’s soccer team will be the first-ever Veterans 3K Fun Run on the Mount Aloysius campus. The event is scheduled for April 25th. The team will organize a 3K walk/run and a post-race barbecue. Proceeds will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project. The day will also include raffles and games to raise additional funds for Wounded Warriors.
“Our women’s soccer assistant Coach Rose Lucidi has hit the ground running with this effort that will raise money for a terrific cause,” Head Men’s and Women’s Soccer Coach Matt Davis said. “Many clubs on campus will also be getting involved with booths and games at the post-race barbecue.”
Mount Aloysius College student-athletes also participate in community service efforts that continue throughout the academic year. The Mount Aloysius Student Athlete Advisory Committee stays focused running a campus-wide effort for Soles4Souls – a not-for-profit agency that fights the impacts of poverty globally. SAAC collects new and used shoes from campus and throughout the local community for world-wide distribution through Soles4Souls.
During the past two years over 25,000 hours of community service has taken place from Mount Aloysius students, faculty and staff. These efforts translate to well over a half million dollars in value to the communities, not-for-profits and agencies helped by the College. Mount Aloysius College has over 70 student clubs on campus and each has a community service component built right into their chapters. And the Mount Aloysius College “Connections” seminar, attended by all freshmen, instills the need and the expectation that MAC students give back to their communities.
Mount Aloysius athletic teams have more upcoming service projects on the horizon as they continue to expand their efforts to give back to the community.