UofL Student-Athletes Participate in Week of Thanks

No matter the sport, the city of Louisville never fails to support the student-athletes at the University of Louisville. To return the favor, student-athletes volunteer in the community throughout the year. With the upcoming holiday, student-athletes worked especially hard to give thanks. Within the last week alone, over 110 student-athletes volunteered 300 hours at various schools, non-profits and community organizations.

During the CardsCARE Week of Thanks, members of the men's basketball and cheer teams visited Wilkerson Elementary to help distribute Thanksgiving lunch to students and family members. Men's basketball also took time to read to young students at Norton Elementary for their annual read-a-thon. Friday afternoon, student-athletes joined the College of Business for the University's Elevate Portland initiative. They went to Portland Elementary to distribute sweatshirts to students and helped them write cards to the homeless. Later during the day on Friday, another group of student-athletes traveled to Audubon Traditional Elementary and volunteered at their Mother Son Olympics. They helped facilitate interactive activities with the school's families. Saturday, 40 female student-athletes were found at Waterfront Park encouraging the development of strong and independent girls in the community by volunteering with Louisville's Girls on the Run 5K.

Senior cheerleader and vice president for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Morgan Elfstrom, played a crucial role in assembling her teammates to volunteer. "My team and I had a blast spending time with our youth community this past week! I have always had a passion for giving back ever since I was younger and I love seeing the looks on the kids' faces after getting to hang out with us student-athletes. It really warms my heart."

To top off this Week of Thanks, the SAAC teamed up with the Louisville Urban League Guild for a final November community service project. UofL Athletic Department adidas interns and Cardinal student-athletes assembled Thanksgiving baskets. The baskets will be delivered by the Urban League to families in need.

Ashten Morrison, adidas intern for Student-Athlete Welfare, led the way in coordinating logistics for this service project. "It was great getting to work with the student-athletes towards a common goal of helping the community. It really got me in the spirit of the holidays."

Joining Morrison in helping recruit the student-athlete volunteers was senior women's soccer student-athlete and SAAC Executive Board member, Tori Gabor. "We went out, bought groceries for Thanksgiving dinners, and organized them into several baskets. It was a super fun event that we got to participate in with other student-athletes. I'm thankful that we had the opportunity to help bring food to many families this holiday."

To keep up with what Cardinal student-athletes are doing in the community follow @LouisvilleLCARE on twitter #CardsCARE.

University of Louisville Athletics

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