afhu Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Athletes for Hope

Meet Our Intern: Hannah Worth

Meet Our Intern: Hannah Worth

Athletes for Hope offers internships to students interested in the field of sports philanthropy and nonprofit management. This semester we are lucky to have Hannah Worth, an international student-athlete from New Zealand at Michigan State University (Go Green!), on the Varsity Women’s Rowing team. Hannah is majoring in Kinesiology with a double minor in Coaching and Spanish. We asked Hannah why she was interested in interning for AFH and what the mission means to her as a student-athlete.

“I was drawn to AFH because during my time as a Spartan student-athlete I was able to be involved in various volunteering opportunities and community outreach and it was through these programs I found my passion for coaching, and my heart for service. AFH came and ran a workshop for our Student-Athlete Advisory Council and afterwards I just knew AFH was an organisation I wanted to be involved with.

The AFH mission interests me because my parents have always encouraged me to give back to sports, as sports have always played a huge role in my life, but to find these opportunities I always had to seek them out on my own. To have an organisation which educates, encourages and assists athletes in all areas of outreach is pretty awesome, and a resource which I hope athletes everywhere can someday have access to.”

Hannah will be working on our AFH Fit program which helps connect athletes to organizations and schools that focus on instilling healthy behaviors in kids across the country.

AFH U Student-Athlete and Team of the Year Award

On April 5, 2019, AFH U launched its first nominations for 2018-2019 Student-Athlete and Team of the Year awards. Based on monthly nominations from the current school year, these awards were meant to recognize and reward the great efforts by individual student-athletes and a collective team from AFH University sites across the US. There were six student-athletes and four teams nominated for the national award.

After two weeks of online voting and social media campaigns, AFH received over 2860 votes for these nominations.
We are so proud to announce the winner of the AFH U Student-Athlete of the Year as Stephen Sepcich, from Tulane University Baseball, and Team of the Year goes to Michigan State University (MSU) Women’s Field Hockey! Both Stephen and his Tulane Baseball team as well as the MSU Field Hockey team worked collaboratively to address community issues and provide service to others in their time off. Their efforts to raise awareness, funds and support others while excelling as students academically has been inspirational to watch this past year. We applaud their efforts and are proud to award them this recognition for the first time in our organizational history.

We are working to collect final data on the AFH U program from student-athletes, schools and partners who have worked with us over the past year and will report out final qualitative and quantitative program data soon. We continue to see tremendous growth in service hours, student-athlete involvement and deeper community relationships between universities, student-athletes, partners and with AFH U and look forward to another great year.

Vote for AFH U Student-Athlete and Team of the Year

Throughout this year, we’ve had monthly awards available to athletes and teams that are doing exceptional work. Every single one of our student-athletes does amazing work, but these athletes and teams have gone above and beyond the call, showing their personal devotion to volunteering and the causes they care about! This month, for National Student-Athlete Day, we will celebrate these nominations and the community will select a National Athletes for Hope University (AFH U) Student-Athlete and Team of the Year by voting in an online campaign!

Below are the student-athletes and teams that have been nominated throughout this academic year, as well as why they were nominated. Once you have read through, don’t forget to vote for your favorite student-athlete, team, or both!

AFHU Student Athletes of the Month:


Stephen Sepcich (Tulane Men’s Baseball)

Stephen is a great baseball student-athlete who started an organization called Hams for Fams to feed families in need in the New Orleans community. This group has gotten bigger each year and has made a tremendous impact on the lives of others. His work has helped address an unmet need in this community and has extended his service to include his Tulane baseball team.

Dajour Braxton (LSU Track & Field)

Dajour has been serving as team lead for LSU Track & Field since 2016. He has been a service advocate not only for his team but the LSU athletic community. Dajour rallied student athletes from all sports to come out in numbers for last year’s MLK Day of Service. He also makes consistent visits to University Terrace Elementary to read in library classes and lead AFH Power Up! Sessions in physical education classes.

Katie Kampen (LSU Women’s Volleyball)

Katie is a natural leader on and off of the court. She not only coordinates Power UP! sessions for the team at Glasgow Middle, but constantly seeks new opportunities to increase impact. She has volunteered with Baton Rouge Wheelchair Tennis Association, LSU CLAW, Knock Knock Children’s Museum, YMCA Brusly, Marathon Kids at St. James Academy, and The Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired.

Arabella Hall (Southern University Women’s Volleyball)

Following our workshops with Southern Volleyball in January 2017, Arabella Hall hit the ground running ready to serve Baton Rouge. She has served as an amazing team lead, coordinating various service events for her team such as MLK day of service and school visits at Progress Elementary. She has also made consistent visits on her own to Progress Elementary and have become an asset to their school community.

Robert Kennedy (Tulane University Football)

Robert Kennedy was nominated due to his willingness to serve the New Orleans community. Robert’s most recent service endeavors include our Tulane Athletics Service Day, in which he made Halloween Cards and goodie bags for hospitalized children, played sports with children at the YMCA, and took part in a beautification project at Longue Vue House and Gardens. He is always willing to help and has made a huge impact on others through his service work.

Erica Susi (UVA Women’s Tennis)

Erica Susi responds promptly, politely, and helpfully to AFH University emails. It is easy to tell that she is passionate about getting her team involved, and setting a precedent for the future of her team’s volunteerism even after she has graduated. Outside of Athletes For Hope, Erica worked hard to plan a fundraiser for Huntington’s Disease to take place this spring. Erica’s fundraiser allows her teammates to have another opportunity to volunteer for an important cause!

 

AFHU Teams of the Month:

Ohio State University Cross Country

The Ohio State University Cross Country spent time over the summer with the Boys and Girls Club and volunteered with kids in the program. This fall, they have started doing monthly visits at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital and working with Girls on the Run. While they can only do one hospital visit a month due to hospital policies, they jump in and quickly book up as man visits as possible with the kids! They are enthusiastic about giving back to our community.

Ohio State University Women’s Ice Hockey

Led by Captain Erin Langermeier, the team visits Nationwide Children’s Hospital every month and participates in evening activities geared toward improving the hospital experience for patients. So far the team has volunteered almost 50 hours of service to the hospital, and they look forward to growing the team’s relationship with the hospital! They continue to support the community both during their season and off season.

USC Women’s Lacrosse

The USC Lacrosse team participated in their first 1.0 and 1.5 AFH U workshops in September and immediately jumped into service opportunities. They hosted the Harlem Lacrosse LA team for a LAX session for inner city kids in Los Angeles and have plans for more service when they can! We loved their enthusiasm and can’t wait to see what more they do in their communities!

MSU Women’s Field Hockey

Led by Captain Bailey Higgins, the team visits two elementary schools in the Lansing every week as part of the Active Schools program, a national program dedicated to bringing physical fitness back to the school setting. During their visits the team helps facilitate physical fitness activities and promotes healthy lifestyles. Not only has the team visited the schools this semester, but this is their third year of volunteering with these schools!

You can vote for your favorite student-athlete, team, or both here!

AFH University Celebrates the November Student Athlete and Team of The Month

We are so thankful for our Athletes for Hope University (AFH U) members and the great work that they all did this past month. To date this year, all of you have already tripled the number of service hours that student-athletes have given back to communities for the first few months of the school year! We are grateful for the incredible work that these teams do to support so many worthy causes.

Did you know? November was Pancreatic Cancer and Prematurity Awareness Month so many of our AFH U student-athletes were out supporting cancer or other childhood health and wellness events. Every month is a different awareness month so let us know if there’s a cause that is important to you so we can connect your team to that work.

The “Planksgiving” Challenge was in full steam with our Power Up! Program sites last month. Student-athletes encouraged kids at the Power Up! Schools to see how many of them could hold a plank for 30 seconds. Find out more about our Power Up! Program here. We are grateful for our partners at Nike for allowing us to continue to expand our work in the physical activity space through the Power Up! Program. Student-Athlete and Team of the Month: We sent out a link

planks

Every month AFH U honors those showing dedication to service. This month, we highlight the Ohio State Cross Country team and Tulane Football’s Robert Kennedy for going above and beyond in their communities.
The Ohio State University Cross Country spent time over the summer with the Boys and Girls Club and volunteered with kids in the program. This fall, they have started doing monthly visits at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital and working with Girls on the Run. While they can only do one hospital visit a month due to hospital policies, they jump in and quickly book up as man visits as possible with the kids! They are enthusiastic about giving back to our community.

Robert Kennedy, from Tulane Football, was nominated due to his willingness to serve the New Orleans community. Robert’s most recent service endeavors include our Tulane Athletics Service Day, in which he made Halloween Cards and goodie bags for hospitalized children, playing sports with children at the YMCA, and taking part in a beautification project at Longue Vue House and Gardens. He is always willing to help.

We would not be able to do this incredible work without a base of funders supporting us. We are so thankful to our funders Nike and The Pennington Family Foundation, for enabling us to work in Louisiana communities and beyond. Their support over the last few years has been instrumental in the expansion of the AFH University program to even more sites and allowed AFHU athletes to give back in valuable and enriching ways. Thank you to Nike and Pennington Family Foundation for all you do for AFH U!

AFH Staff Highlight: Kenya Warren-Hollins

A lot goes on behind the scenes at Athletes for Hope to ensure every athlete, team and charity have a fulfilling connection experience. Our teammate on the ground in Louisiana, Kenya Warren-Hollins, is a great example of how all the moving parts of connections can come together. Kenya has worked on the AFH University program for the last 3 years in Baton Rouge connecting students at LSU and Southern University to charitable opportunities in the community. She also works with the incredible organization City Year in Baton Rouge. We sat down with Kenya to ask her why she works with AFH and what motivates her in her career.

“The full cycle of the AFH U program is a rewarding experience. From helping student athletes get excited about service and identifying causes their passionate about, connecting them to local non-profits and schools, to seeing the joy on the faces of the individuals they visit. My favorite thing is the impact it makes on student athletes and the community in which I love. My career is a depiction of my passion for service and expertise in relationship development.”

One of Kenya’s favorite AFH moments was the service that took place in the aftermath of the historic flood in 2016. Student athletes from Southern and LSU mobilized the city of Baton Rouge through service and came together for a great cause. When asked why she enjoys her job Kenya replied, “It excites me to know AFH is truly making a difference and making lasting impacts on the communities we serve. We’re only getting better!”

Tulane Athletes Give Back to Area Homeless

On Tuesday, July 17th AFH conducted workshops at Tulane University with over 50 student athletes. Teams in attendance were Tulane Football, Women’s Basketball, Men’s Basketball, and Volleyball. Players were excited to share their meanings of hope and learn how important their roles of student athletes are to the community. We facilitated passionate discussions between the student athletes that motivated them to do more. Erin Gutierrez of Tulane Women’s Basketball stated, “ Going through the hope exercise inspired me to give back to the community more and help inspire other kids by giving them hope. As student athletes we have the ability to give back and I think it is my duty and service to give back.” According to Keitha Jones Jr. of Tulane Football, “ the workshop gave me knowledge on how to give back to the community and you never know whose life you could impact.”

Following our workshop, Tulane athletes prepared over 500 sandwiches for the homeless community at Ozanam Inn In New Orleans. Ozanam Inn is an emergency shelter for homeless men and also a transitional facility to help move individuals from homelessness to independent living.

tulane homelss shelter