Before the Christmas break 35 student athletes gave back for the holiday season. The St. Thomas University Student-Athlete Council organized a food drive to help out the Fredericton and STU food banks.
“The Christmas season can be extremely difficult for some students and families,” said Taylor Cook, vice president of the STU Student-Athlete Council.
“We saw the food drive as a great opportunity not only to bring student athletes together, but also to work with the community to make the season a little bit easier for those that are in need.”
The Tommies met at the JB O’Keefe Gym and split into four groups to hit as many neighborhoods in the greater Fredericton area as possible.
They managed to hit downtown and uptown Fredericton, New Maryland and Skyline Acres.
They went to door-to-door asking for non-perishable food items.
“People were generally quite receptive. The residents we encountered were very generous and supportive of the drive,” said Anisha Romany.
When asked why she decided to help with the food drive, Romany said, “I elected to help out as a former student-athlete, because my friends needed as many volunteers as possible. Part of being a good student-athlete, a good Tommie, is engaging in community outreach and giving back where possible.”
The Tommies met back at STU and ended the day successfully by collecting close to 2,000 items, which were split between the city’s food bank and STU’s food bank.
Vivien Zelazny, campus minister, gladly accepted the donation for the STU food bank. She said the donation was quite a surprise.
“I showed up one morning and I went into the food bank and there was this huge shelving unit suddenly full of food,” said Zelazny.
“I was ecstatic, and it was wonderful, but I had no idea where it had come from.”
She soon learned that it was from STU’s student athletes.
Romany and Cook both agreed that the food drive was a huge success. Romany was especially happy with the turnout of her fellow student-athletes.
“Everyone pulled together to make the drive a success. I’m proud of the great Tommies effort.”
