SAAC Special Olympics Opening Ceremonies

On April 27th, SAAC got the opportunity to volunteer at the annual Special Olympics opening ceremony event held at North Central College. Before the event, members of SAAC showed up bright and early to help set up and make sure everything ran smoothly with the opening ceremony.

Members also got to assist with the actual meet's individual events. The event was a success and the experience was unforgettable for both the students and the special olympic athletes.

That day the athletes truly exemplified the special olympics motto, "Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."


 

Hang Out with President Hammond

To thank SAAC for their efforts this year, especially for the SAAC Snow Scraper Project, President Hammond invited members of SAAC to his house for a "Hand Out with Prez Hammond" event. Members of SAAC enjoyed dinner, games and conversation one-on-one with the President as they shared sport stories from their career. Landon Gamble, Men's Basketball, even had the chance to take on the President in a game of ping-pong (The President won!)
 



SAAC Snowscraper Project

Spreading goodwill around campus during the cold and snowy winter months of 2014, members of SAAC with some help from Campus Safety took to the parking lots of campus to help out their fellow Cardinals. In the early evening hours of Februrary 17th, people who were parked around campus were treated to a freshly snowscraped car and free snowscraper compliments of SAAC.

SAAC was even featured on the North Central Cardinals website with a feature story on Storyfi.
 










Special Olympics and SAAC Basketball Outing

On Saturday February 15th, SAAC partnered with members of the Special Olympics organization to cheer on the Cardinal Men's Basketball team as they took on conference rival Wheaton College.

Before the event, SAAC and the athletes from Special Olympics made signs and passed out bead necklaces to the student section to help pump up the crowd. Thanks to their efforts and encouragement  the Cardinals went on to win that senior night game 71-66. A big thank you to Special Olympics for attending the game!
 

Triple Threat Mentoring
 
One of the 2013-2014 SAAC members, Dionte Hackler, interned at Triple Threat Mentoring and brought up the idea of bringing in11 kids for a January Men's basketball game. SAAC invited them to hang out during the game and to participate in a shoot around during halftime. The goal of Triple Threat Mentoring is to help empower urban youth to develop confidence, character and life skills through programs, mentoring and partnerships with the community and schools like North Central.

SAAC in partnership with the Men's basketball team and Admissions took care of everything; providing the kids with a giftbag and signed t-shirt from the Men's basketball team thanking them for coming!
 



World Relief

This past Demcember SAAC and many others from the NCC athletic community made fleece-tie blankets for the local DuPage chapter of an organization called World Relief. World Relief is based around the country and internationally and helps those who are devastated by natural disasters, disease, relocation, conflicts and much more. The fleece tie blankets were given to refugees who have been relocated to America.

The event was a success, with about 20 members of the athletic community coming out to help World Relief and Kelly’s Kuddlers prepare 20 blankets for refugee families arriving in the Wheaton/Aurora area.

For more information on World Relief, please check out their website: http://worldreliefdupage.org/
 











2012-2013 SAAC SERVICE PROJECTS


Feed My Starving Children

During the spring semester members of the North Central College football team donated their time to Feed My Starving Children, a non-profit organization committed to feeding starving and impoverished children in more than 60 countries around the world. The athletes assisted in measuring ingredients, packing food and preparing boxes for shipments at the organizations Aurora, Ill. location.
 
Winter Wear Clothing Drive: Keeping Our Communities Warm

This past December and January, the North Central College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee collected new and gently used winter clothing as part of the CCIW Service Initiative, “Winter Wear Drive: Keeping Our Communities Warm”. Each CCIW member institution was asked to participate and select a local agency to benefit from their efforts. North Central College selected Sharing Connections, a local agency who provides material goods to individuals in need.

In total, CCIW institutions collected over 1,400 items for donation—North Central College alone collected 285 items.

Wings at Their Feet Back to School Supply Drive

Wings at Their Feet was conceived to give as many children as possible a fair chance at learning by providing basic school supplies. Pencils, pens, notebooks, paper, markers, crayons, folders, glue sticks, rulers, backpacks and more were donated to Olney C. Allen Elementary School in Aurora, Ill., and Emerson Elementary School in Madison, Wis., a school that serves homeless children through a transitional education program. The supplies are collected and delivered during the fall, then schools distribute them to students in winter after the Christmas vacation when students and families are short on supplies and funds.

The program's creator is Kari Kluckhohn, North Central's head women's track and assistant women's cross country coach and assistant professor of health and physical education. Kluckhohn started the project nearly five years ago in memory of her son, Samuel Noah, who passed away at full term before his birth. Shortly after her loss, her home church in Wisconsin held its annual school supply drive for needy families in Africa and area schools, and she decided to donate supplies in honor of Samuel.

The following year she invited members of her track team to join her efforts. Kluckhohn says, "I thought we could impact more children working together than I could alone, and they were very generous and eager to help." After seeing how giving her team was, she expanded the program to include all athletic teams with support from other North Central coaches and staff. Her goal was to introduce student-athletes to service and help them recognize their responsibility to be role models. "It gives our students an opportunity to make a difference by helping children in our area. And it's such a simple, grassroots project that positively affects so many lives."

The name Wings at Their Feet was coined by one of Kluckhohn's students. "After my loss, many of my runners wore ribbons of remembrance on their shoes when competing and one of my students said, ‘Look coach, I have wings on my feet.' I think it's symbolic; we can provide support and tools to kids to help them soar academically."

In January 2009, North Central College was recognized by the National Association of Division III Athletics Administrators (NADIIIAA) with an honorable mention for this community service project. More than 200 North Central student-athletes collected some 1,700 items during the award-winning 2007-08 academic year. The NADIIIAA/Jostens Community Service Awards were presented at the NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C., on January 17, 2009.