Philadelphia, Pa. - The Saint Joseph's men's lacrosse team had a busy fall semester donating more than 420 team hours to community service efforts. The men's efforts raised $3,780 for blood cancer research through the HEADstrong Foundation in addition to hosting the Philly Showcase Logan Schweiter Benefit Games.
The Logan Schweiter Benefit Games raised more than $4,000 for the NTAF Mid-Atlantic Traumatic Brain Injury Fund in honor of Logan Schweiter. The Hawks also work regularly at four sites: Gompers Elementary, the Simpson House, Methodist After School Services, and the CLYDE Corporation mentoring program. The team was divided in half and then into four sub-groups that went out on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the semester.
"We are a Jesuit institution and at the heart of our mission is building men and women for others. There is no better way to do exhibit those traits than community service efforts," said head coach Taylor Wray. "It is easy to get comfortable in our day-to-day campus life and the walls of the SJU campus, and for our team to get out in the real world and give back is invaluable experience. We hope that our efforts help to enrich the lives of those in our greater Philadelphia community."
Wray went on to add, "Our players visited the same spot each week for nearly ten weeks and really started to build relationships with the people at each establishment. It's great to get our players interacting with the local community, and getting together outside of scheduled athletics activity. We look forward to continuing this type of program next fall."
Click here to view a letter of appreciation from Chris Ming at the CLYDE program to Saint Joseph's University and the men's lacrosse team.