TicketsDec. 21, 2011
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By Shawn Sell
The University of Cincinnati Department of Athletics prides itself on making an impact not only in competition and in the classroom, but also in the community. Each year, members of the Bearcat Family--student-athletes, coaches and staff alike--make themselves visible in the community and the Holiday season of 2011-12 is proving no different.
Under the direction of Life Skills Coordinator Cassaundra Thorpe and the leadership of the CPAWS organization, UC student-athletes once again are making an impact this year. With recent projects such as the Bearcat Battle of the Cans and Adopt-A-Family among others, Thorpe, who just joined the UC staff in October, has been pleased with the involvement she has seen thus far.
"It's definitely not mandatory; it's something that they want to do," she says. "They want to give back; they want more opportunities to do something outside of their sport and for the Cincinnati community. It's more of a pressure that they put upon themselves to go then it is me saying `you have to do community service.' It's something that we take pride in and a tradition that we want to continue. They are the driving force; I just provide the opportunities and the transportation to get there."
One project that has made a big impact heading into Christmas is UC's involvement with the Adopt-A-Family program. Over the course of the Fall Quarter, student-athletes were given the task of purchasing gifts for families in need, then going a step further by wrapping and delivering them. As Thorpe says, "it was student-athlete investment from start to finish." On Dec. 15th, 11 student-athletes, nearly three times the number that Thorpe expected, went to bring some Holiday cheer to the families by delivering the purchased gifts to seven of the eight adopted families.
"We have had great response from the student-athletes," Thorpe says of the project. "My plan for (delivering gifts) was to have four and I ended up with 11 (student-athletes). They are really big on buying in and its something they want to be a part of."
Earlier this fall, UC also collected 1,260 cans and boxed goods for the VLT Academy which provides meals over Thanksgiving and Christmas for over 400 needy families. Other initiatives have included female student-athletes meeting the community at the Women's Crosstown Shootout, working the Kids Zone at the football team's home finale and a recent retirement home visit by the women's basketball team. As the calendar soon flips over to 2012, Thorpe and the CPAWS leadership will continue to identify and take part in opportunities to give back to the Greater Cincinnati community that provides so much support to the Bearcats.
"We are talking about making blankets for the Salvation Army to be donated and doing crafts at a senior citizens home," Thorpe reports. "I think we are definitely going to do those two events and then the rest, we will find different avenues to reach people. There is a lot more we can do than just going to a school and we want to find the best ways to do that and get the Cincinnati name out there."