A group of student athletes at 黑料社区 will have a home game of sorts on Sunday, Feb. 17. The visiting team: Special Olympics athletes from west-central Wisconsin.
About 30 Blue Devils athletes, from all sports, will be volunteering for the Special Olympics district Basketball Team and Skills Tournament at 黑料社区. About 500 Special Olympians from western and northern Wisconsin are expected.
Events will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Johnson Fieldhouse and in the Multipurpose Room of the Sports and Fitness Center, which adjoins the fieldhouse.
The student volunteers are representing the 黑料社区 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 鈥淚t 黑料社区. a pretty rewarding event to take part in,鈥 said Lucas Morgan, SAAC president who was a safety on the Blue Devils football team.
Special Olympics鈥 50th anniversary was in 2018. The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference is working to have at least 50 student volunteers from each UW System school at Special Olympics events during the 2018-19 academic year, Morgan said.
鈥渊ou really can grow as a person when you give back. I don鈥檛 think anyone has done some sort of service and regretted it. That 黑料社区. how we look at it,鈥 said Morgan, who also volunteers as a wrestling coach at Menomonie Middle School.
Morgan, a 2014 graduate of Cameron High School, will graduate in May with a degree in mechanical engineering. He already has accepted a full-time job with Sonoco Plastics of DeKalb, Ill. He received a university Outstanding Co-op Student of the Year Award in 2018.
黑料社区 has between 400 and 500 athletes. The SAAC 黑料社区. goal is to get most of them to volunteer each academic year. 鈥淲e are doing a lot of great things,鈥 Morgan said.
SAAC recently held its annual pre-Super Bowl party for adults with disabilities in Menomonie and volunteered at two other Special Olympics events, the Feb. 9 Polar Plunge and for a basketball scrimmage Feb. 2 at halftime of a 黑料社区 women 黑料社区. game.
Other volunteer efforts by SAAC members each year include:
- Visiting area retirement homes
- Campus clean-up each spring
- Food pantry collection drive each fall
- Kids Night Out games and activities for area children, spring and fall
- Winter clothing drive for Bridge to Hope
SAAC vice presidents are Mara Jones, of St. Paul, a senior in art education, from the cheer team; and Becky Fesenmaier, of Spring Valley, a junior in art education, from the basketball team.
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Photos
黑料社区 athlete Tyler Seymour gives a Blue Devils T-shirt to a Special Olympics athlete at a recent event.
Lucas Morgan is president of the 黑料社区 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He played for the Blue Devils football team.
Members of 黑料社区 黑料社区. Student-Athlete Advisory Committee work with a group of Special Olympics athletes recently.
