One of the main tenants of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee or SAAC is to encourage community outreach. During the MASCAC SAAC project on Sunday, April 16 to cap off DIII Week, the group came together in an amazing way to give back to all eight communities around their institutions.

Every other year, the MASCAC SAAC gets together to perform a community service project of the student-athlete's choosing. With COVID interrupting plans for the last project, the group was eager to give back. This year, they selected to collect donations beginning in October to create donation bags with important daily care items which would be handed out to homeless and women's shelters in their surrounding communities. 

Some of the items collected were feminine products, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, gloves, socks, hand warmers, ponchos, razors, sunscreen, toilet paper, trash bags, brushes, hand sanitizer, first aid kits and much more! The student-athletes went "shopping" around the room and began filling their bags with each item until they were all filled. In total, 85 bags were made with 10 being distributed to each school and five going to the conference office for distribution. Within the 85 bags were 100s of items with the largest donated item being ponchos at 374.

“It was a great day for student-athletes to be able to give back to the communities that support as all year long on the field, courts, rinks, and tracks," MASCAC SAAC President Paige Moroney said. "With collection and fundraising across all eight institutions we made 85 bags that will now be donated to shelters and pantries. This year is also extra special as we get to have an impact in all our communities, instead of focusing on just one." 

Following the collection, each institution took their donation bags back to campus where over the next few weeks, they will deliver them to area shelters for distribution. Some institutions also expressed interest in making this an annual project on their campus to continue giving back to the community that supports them.

"It was amazing to see the excitement in the room throughout the community service project," MASCAC Assistant Commissioner and SAAC Advisor Emily Loux said. "Despite their busy schedules with school and athletics, the student-athletes were able to collect an amazing number of items which will now go back to their communities. That is the beauty of doing the project this way is that they can see exactly where the items are going and know the difference it will make."