Athletes in the Community Archives - Page 10 of 16 - Athletes for Hope

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Community Partner Highlight

Posted: Updated: by jbelinkie

Miracle Moments at Cyprus Mounds

As we built new relationships with local nonprofits in Baton Rouge, one stood out as a student-athlete favorite – The Miracle League. For those unfamiliar, The Miracle League gives children with any type of disability the opportunity to play the game of baseball. 

Since 2016, Athletes for Hope student-athletes have looked forward to Tuesday and Thursday evenings at Cypress Mounds.

This is a great opportunity to give back to the culture around us and we enjoy every second of it.

Gavin Dugas, LSU Baseball

Our involvement has not only brought joy to the young Miracle League athletes but to LSU and Southern University student-athletes as well. Serving as buddies, protecting players during the game, and cheering them on has been a rewarding experience while contributing to a positive environment for all participants. Our 2019 & 2022 AFH Partner of the Year participant stated, “It’s been unbelievable. The Miracle League players love it when athletes come out to join them.”- Charlene Lauman, Miracle League- Volunteer Coordinator for the 2022 fall season.

Everyone should go watch or volunteer at the Miracle League! It’s truly a blast to be out there with those kids because all they want to do is have fun! That’s what the game is all about. Each and every single one of them puts a smile on my face. I’m already looking forward to my next game because they are so much fun!

McKenzie Odgen, Southern University Softball.

AFH Baton Rouge teams made weekly visits to their friends over at Cypress Mounds- never missing a game during the entirety of the fall 2022 season. It wasn’t long until their dedication and commitment to their community started getting noticed on a larger scale. Local news station WBRZ made a trip out to Cypress Mounds to watch our student-athletes from LSU in action.


Following LSU Baseball’s visit in October, they posted to their social media platforms “Thank you to the Miracle League at Cypress Mounds for having us and we can’t wait to see y’all at Alex Box this season!”


We are looking forward to returning for the spring season to support our buddies at The Miracle League. 

AFH Advocacy

Posted: Updated: by jbelinkie

Athletes & Addressing Food Insecurity

This winter, Athletes for Hope has been tackling the disparities of food insecurity across our AFH University campuses through service projects and advocacy. Our athletes believe that nobody should have to choose between paying a bill or nourishing their bodies.

Food insecurity affects people from every walk of life, including athletes and those in the community right around us – whether you see it or not. 

Food insecurity is defined by the United States Department of Agriculture as a lack of consistent access to enough food for every person in a household to live an active, healthy life. This can be a temporary situation for a family or can last a long time.

Who does it affect?

Hunger occurs for people from all walks of life – including athletes – but doesn’t affect everyone equally. Groups like children, seniors and black, indigenous, and other people of color face hunger at higher rates. Hunger also affects those living in poverty.

60% of collegiate athletes experience food insecurity in the United States.

How can athletes help?

There are many different ways athletes can use their platforms to combat food insecurity! Education is always at the start so be sure to familiarize yourself with the topic and learn how it affects the communities closest to you. Here are a few ways to get started:

  • Volunteer at your local food pantry: Foodpantries.org
  • Educate & Advocate : Feedingamerica.org
  • Donate to a national or local organization
  • Share the infographics below on your social media as a way to raise awareness for food insecurity this winter.

Pauls Pujats, Community Hero Of The Week

Posted: Updated: by jbelinkie

Pauls is this week’s Community Hero!

Pauls Pujats is a Latvian Olympic Pole Vaulter who has focused his attention on the AFH Fit program, a program we created to tackle the issue of childhood obesity.

Pauls is passionate about encouraging kids to adopt healthy lifestyles, and consistently visits with schools via the AFH Fit program. Every month Pauls visits with his partner school to share his athletic experiences and promote active lifestyles with the help of the CHAMPS curriculum.

First, spreading and sharing joy, which leads to the second –  love and passion for what you do, and the third is sharing valuable information that can help others to live their best life.

Pauls Pujats on his favorite moment giving back to his community

Ann Gaffigan, Community Hero of the Week

Posted: Updated: by jbelinkie

Ann has been a member of AFH for almost 13 years, engaging with major initiatives every step of the way. When Ann relocated to Kansas City, we quickly helped connect her to Win for KC, a great non-profit dedicated to advancing women’s sports in the Kansas City area. Ann embraced the organization and the opportunity to give back and now sits on their board of directors! 

Aside from WIN for KC, Ann has played an integral role in educating and connecting with athletes nationwide on the importance of service through advocacy. 

We Are Thankful for Our Member Athletes

Posted: Updated: by bsanchez

November has come to a close and Thanksgiving has passed and yet we are still reflecting on how thankful we are for all of our wonderful member athletes. This year we highlighted a few of those athletes on social media as a special thanks. These individuals went above and beyond in giving their time on several occasions this year and some even got their whole team involved! We truly appreciate everyone that gave back this year and are looking forward to continuing that positive momentum in 2016!

Athletes for Active Schools Recap

Posted: Updated: by Gray Digital

It is our pleasure to report on the successful turnout for our Athletes for Active Schools week, with so many of you getting involved. We appreciate all of the generous support and participation, whether it was speaking to a school about the importance of physical activity or joining us on social media from around the country!

Some of the ways you got involved include:

  • School visits: Professional and Olympic athletes from over 15 different sports visited elementary and middle schools around the country, inspiring students to pursue active lifestyles. Their message– the importance of physical activity. Some of the notable athletes who visited schools include Track & Field Olympian Sanya Richards-Ross, Portland Timbers Professional Soccer Player Nat Borches, and Olympic Skier Emily Cook.
  • #5forPE Video Challenge: We were thrilled with the support for the #5forPE video challenge, which helped spread the word about the campaign and motivate friends and family to get active. To complete the challenge, individuals recorded themselves doing five exercises and nominating five friends to do the same. Two of our athletes, professional soccer players Heather O’Reilly and Yael Averbuch, filmed their #5forPE video together at an active school with students.
  • Twitter Chat: Our #ActiveSchools Twitter chat fostered a discussion on the importance of physical education and activity, which generated over 1.5 million impressions! This could not have been possible without the support and commitment of our partners on the chat, including Let’s Move! Active Schools, Alliance For A Healthier Generation, Partnership For A Healthier America, Presidents Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition, and Shape America. In case you missed it, a recap of the conversation can be found here.

Thank you again to all the athletes, supporters, and partners for participating and for helping us elevate this important topic and campaign to greater heights!

AFH Staff