Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Athletics Holds Successful Week Of Service
11/13/2015 9:35:00 AM | General, Student-Athlete Services
Athletics has moving power. Perhaps nowhere is that more evident than in the Bloomington community.
Around these parts, Indiana fans aren't afraid to show their passion for their school. Whether that means buying tickets and coming to games or listening afar, fans do what they can to show their support by whatever means they have.
So when the community needs help, one of Indiana University Athletics' priorities is finding a way to give back, assistant director of service learning and community engagement Neely Slawson said. So when the opportunity came to direct a five-day service project last week for the IU Athletics staff, Slawson charged it head on.
"You always ask yourself why we do this. For me, when I look at IU Athletics, I really see the community," Slawson said. "We are all members of the Bloomington community. Most of us live here. This is our home. I feel like our fans and members of the community are so supportive of IU Athletics whether they're coming to games, listening at home, interacting with student-athletes. I just think this community has given so much that we need to continually remember to give back to them for their support."
The five days of service, named the IU Athletics Week of Service, featured five different opportunities for Indiana University Athletics staff to volunteer time with different outlets in the community.
On Monday, staff members joined together at the Hoosier Hills Food Bank to package meals for senior citizens to kick off the week of service. In the following days, events were organized and held at the Friends of the Library Bookstore, Girls Inc. of Monroe County, the Boys & Girls Club of America and the Shalom Community Center.
Slawson spent a couple of months organizing the events with the help of the City of Bloomington Volunteer Network and the United Way before opening up volunteer positions to the IU Athletics staff.
"It was great because we had a great turnout from our staff and our student-athletes," Slawson said. "I think we envisioned it more as a staff opportunity, but we had baseball and softball players come out and do volunteer work with our staff, which was great to see."
Slawson said the feedback from the events was positive from both the organizations' perspective and from those who volunteered their time. She said sometimes it takes opportunities like volunteer work for a person to gain perspective on how much an organization like IU Athletics impacts the local community around the university.
"Being a part of IU Athletics, we kind of have a platform and a voice to make that difference," Slawson said. "So I feel like we can use that power to our advantage and help others who don't have that voice."
Slawson hopes the first IU Athletics Week of Service isn't the last.
Volunteers have already asked about when the next volunteer opportunities will be in the coming weeks. And while there's no firm plans yet, Slawson said IU will be working to organize more volunteer events soon.
"Overall, the whole experience, there was nothing negative about it," Slawson said. "Everybody that I talked to said they felt like they really had a great time volunteering. They felt like they were making an impact and the kids loved it, which I'd say is exactly what we wanted out of it."
Around these parts, Indiana fans aren't afraid to show their passion for their school. Whether that means buying tickets and coming to games or listening afar, fans do what they can to show their support by whatever means they have.
So when the community needs help, one of Indiana University Athletics' priorities is finding a way to give back, assistant director of service learning and community engagement Neely Slawson said. So when the opportunity came to direct a five-day service project last week for the IU Athletics staff, Slawson charged it head on.
"You always ask yourself why we do this. For me, when I look at IU Athletics, I really see the community," Slawson said. "We are all members of the Bloomington community. Most of us live here. This is our home. I feel like our fans and members of the community are so supportive of IU Athletics whether they're coming to games, listening at home, interacting with student-athletes. I just think this community has given so much that we need to continually remember to give back to them for their support."
The five days of service, named the IU Athletics Week of Service, featured five different opportunities for Indiana University Athletics staff to volunteer time with different outlets in the community.
On Monday, staff members joined together at the Hoosier Hills Food Bank to package meals for senior citizens to kick off the week of service. In the following days, events were organized and held at the Friends of the Library Bookstore, Girls Inc. of Monroe County, the Boys & Girls Club of America and the Shalom Community Center.
Slawson spent a couple of months organizing the events with the help of the City of Bloomington Volunteer Network and the United Way before opening up volunteer positions to the IU Athletics staff.
"It was great because we had a great turnout from our staff and our student-athletes," Slawson said. "I think we envisioned it more as a staff opportunity, but we had baseball and softball players come out and do volunteer work with our staff, which was great to see."
Slawson said the feedback from the events was positive from both the organizations' perspective and from those who volunteered their time. She said sometimes it takes opportunities like volunteer work for a person to gain perspective on how much an organization like IU Athletics impacts the local community around the university.
"Being a part of IU Athletics, we kind of have a platform and a voice to make that difference," Slawson said. "So I feel like we can use that power to our advantage and help others who don't have that voice."
Slawson hopes the first IU Athletics Week of Service isn't the last.
Volunteers have already asked about when the next volunteer opportunities will be in the coming weeks. And while there's no firm plans yet, Slawson said IU will be working to organize more volunteer events soon.
"Overall, the whole experience, there was nothing negative about it," Slawson said. "Everybody that I talked to said they felt like they really had a great time volunteering. They felt like they were making an impact and the kids loved it, which I'd say is exactly what we wanted out of it."
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