Every Georgian Court University student-athlete has reached out to the local community this year.  The athletes began the school year with work at Providence House and Ocean Harbor House.  They helped paint, clean inside and outside the houses; they did yard work, and played games with the young children at the homes.  

Every year GCU's Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) runs their annual "Dodgeball Tournament" which raises money for the "Make-A-Wish" Foundation.  To uphold the competition between GCU's seven teams, SAAC also organized the Penny Wars.  The seven squads were divided into three teams and collected as many pennies as they could for their team's jar, while collecting "silver" coins and putting them in other jars.  The Lions have reached their goal of $1,000 for the "Make-A-Wish" Foundation.  

The Lions Basketball team volunteered for the Strides organization.  The team worked the Cancer Walk as the players set up water stations, worked the snack stand, and cheered on participates to raise money for Breast Cancer.  Both the basketball and soccer teams held the "Tournament of Champions" for the second year in a row.  The Tournament of Champions gives special needs students from area schools the opportunity to learn the games of basketball and soccer.  The students were challenged through shooting drills, dribbling drills, and plenty of games throughout the event.  

The Lions Softball team has reached out to the local community this past semester by working at the Manchester Little League.  The MLL ran a slow-pitch tournament to raise money for a local State Police officer who was paralyzed while on duty.  The softball players umpired games, helped at the concession stands, distributed water throughout the day, and made sure the park was cleaned.  The event raised over $10,000 for the officer's family.  

The softball team has also held free pitching and hitting clinics in the Lakewood area, which they will continue to do through the spring season.  In addition to their work with clinics, the Lions' softball program took time out from their busy tournament schedule in Florida to help clean-up a neighborhood that was recently hit by a tornado.  GCU raked lawns, cleaned up neighbors' yards, and helped straighten up an elderly woman's house.

The entire Athletics staff is extremely proud of Georgian Court's Student-Athletes for their dedication in reaching out to the community.  

Caption: Georgian Court University's Softball Team performing cleanup efforts after a tornado ravaged a Florida town.