Northwestern University Athletics
Student Athletic Advisory Committee Hosts Food Drive
12/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | General
Dec. 15, 2007
Following NU Holiday tradition, the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) held their annual canned food drive over the past couple weeks benefiting Family Focus of Evanston. Student athlete committee members collected canned foods and non-perishable items at Men's and Women's Basketball games in addition to placing bags in local neighborhoods to collect donations. Altogether, SAAC collected over 1,000 cans and non-perishable items for the organization. According to Softball senior and SAAC President, Gina Gonzalez, "SAAC collects cans every year around the holidays for Family Focus. It's a tradition of community service at SAAC. We continue the tradition because it allows us as student-athletes to continue to give back to the community who support our athletic teams. Our annual tradition of canning helps accomplish one of the goals at SAAC: developing life-long leadership skills among the student-athlete reps." Teams that participated were Baseball, Softball, Cross Country, Lacrosse, Women's Soccer, Football and Men's Golf. Gonzalez continues, "The canning also allows us to express that natural competitiveness that we possess as student-athletes. It's a mentality that webs every facet in life, including volunteering and donating. `You and your team are going to donate and give back to the community, and you and your team are going to be the best at doing it.'" The posed `challenge' for each team created a whirlwind of community outreach efforts, with Baseball taking the lead by turning in 425 cans. Members of SAAC will deliver the canned items to Family Focus on Friday, December 7th.
