BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- For the past two years the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) has created and implemented a community service project to give back to the community.
Community service has been an important theme for all eight state colleges student-athletes both at the college and conference level. Nancy Bals, Westfield Associate Athletic Director said "community service is an essential part of the MASCAC SAAC and it was great to see the student-athletes work together for the community".
Last year the MASCAC SAAC met at Mass Maritime Academy and spent quality time with residents from a senior center. That day meant a lot to both the seniors and the student-athletes.
This year's project theme was from Bridgewater State titled "Support the Troops". The project included collecting items on each campus and working with an organization called CarePacks, for the purpose of putting together care packages for the deserving soldiers in Iraq.
The MASCAC SAAC worked all spring gathering up items to send to the troops in Iraq. On Sunday, April 6, student-athletes from all eight MASCAC Colleges met at Bridgewater State College with organizers from CarePacks from Weymouth, Massachusetts to pack up about 275 boxes which will be sent across the world to the brave military men and women serving in Iraq.
CarePacks is a non-profit organization that is staffed and managed entirely by volunteers that are dedicated to sending care packages to US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Founded in 2004, CarePacks' goal is to provide these soldiers with supplies to help improve their morale, mental health, and quality of life, and to remind soldiers that they are remembered by people "back home."
The MASCAC student-athletes care packages contained items with food, personal care items, books and more Each package also contained at least one letter from a college's SAAC.
Many of the men and women serving over in Iraq are about the same age as the student-athletes going to school and competing at the eight state colleges. One of the volunteers commented "although you may not agree with the war you have to support the troops". Student-athletes with friends or families serving were able to pack the boxes and include a hand written note in the CarePacks.
Many of the packages went to service people that haven't received packages. The packages should arrive in 7-10 days and are sure to bring some joy and comfort to the soldiers that are putting their lives on the line. At the end of the day the student-athletes met and brainstormed about ways to improve the sportsmanship across the MASCAC.