Athletes serve local community
By Dan Glickman
Last Updated:3:11 PM EST 3/3/10 Section: Sports
Many know of at least some of the charity and community outreach done by St. John Fisher's student athletes.
The annual Courage Bowl, for example, benefits Camp Good Days.
But even on individual levels, athletes are active in doing service or outreach to the community. Many of them are service scholars, requiring up to 200 hours of community service in exchange for financial aid.
Needless to say, to be a student, a volunteer and an athlete often leads to a balancing act between the three. For those who are able to, the experience is often quite rewarding.
Chris Keyes, a senior defensive back for the football team, is both a service scholar and was chair of the 28th Teddi Dance for Love. For him, what stands out from his service work has been the people.
"One thing that I really love is meeting so many different people. Through my four years here I have met and gotten to know some amazing people who love the same things I do," he said. "I feel that doing service is something that all students should do because it is something that is so empowering."
Like Keyes, Marc Montesano, a senior outfielder on the baseball team, is a service scholar. For him, most of his service has been primarily as a teacher's aide in the city school district, at a different school every year.
But this year he decided to do something different, "Something out of the box," he said.
Instead of working at a school, he will be working at a soup kitchen.
Montesano admits that the 200 hour requirement "keeps me, without a doubt, busy year round."
"To have a scholarship that takes up 200 hours to complete, you must be extremely organized and goal oriented," he said. "If I wasn't organized and goal-oriented, then I probably wouldn't have been able to complete my hours."
Montesano believes being organized helped him be successful on the ball field and in the classroom.
Keyes also has had to be extremely organized to keep track of all three of his responsibilities.
The annual Courage Bowl, for example, benefits Camp Good Days.
But even on individual levels, athletes are active in doing service or outreach to the community. Many of them are service scholars, requiring up to 200 hours of community service in exchange for financial aid.
Needless to say, to be a student, a volunteer and an athlete often leads to a balancing act between the three. For those who are able to, the experience is often quite rewarding.
Chris Keyes, a senior defensive back for the football team, is both a service scholar and was chair of the 28th Teddi Dance for Love. For him, what stands out from his service work has been the people.
"One thing that I really love is meeting so many different people. Through my four years here I have met and gotten to know some amazing people who love the same things I do," he said. "I feel that doing service is something that all students should do because it is something that is so empowering."
Like Keyes, Marc Montesano, a senior outfielder on the baseball team, is a service scholar. For him, most of his service has been primarily as a teacher's aide in the city school district, at a different school every year.
But this year he decided to do something different, "Something out of the box," he said.
Instead of working at a school, he will be working at a soup kitchen.
Montesano admits that the 200 hour requirement "keeps me, without a doubt, busy year round."
"To have a scholarship that takes up 200 hours to complete, you must be extremely organized and goal oriented," he said. "If I wasn't organized and goal-oriented, then I probably wouldn't have been able to complete my hours."
Montesano believes being organized helped him be successful on the ball field and in the classroom.
Keyes also has had to be extremely organized to keep track of all three of his responsibilities.
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