A recent survey from the NCAA was conducted seeing if student athletes were good role models for children and the community in general. A few of the results were as follows:

•87% of women and 83% of men volunteer on an annual basis; 44% volunteer at least monthly. Black student-athletes and student-athletes from low-income families are most likely to report engaging in service regularly.

•Most student-athletes believe they have a responsibility to participate in volunteer or service activities within their local community. This sense of responsibility was highest among women, in Division I, and in high-profile men’s sports.

I had been working with the youth at William Wells Brown Community center since the summer of 2016. I taught one of the many hands on activities they had during the summer. Those included gardening to preparing easy healthy snacks at home. These classes were geared to elementary children. Jill Wilson the community center director saw about a 25% increase in vegetable consumption. She noticed most of the children that were helping in the garden and had taken the health snack class were teaching other children about the vegetables but those children were not eating them. During the rest of the year the children began to drop out of the community center and taking care of the garden as well. They did not have someone to look up to. This is where the University of Kentucky Women Volleyball team comes into play. In the summer of 2016, I asked the volleyball team if they would be interested in helping out at William Wells Brown. The whole team came to the kick off we had about 35 kids that day ranging from ages 6-11. Some of the healthy snacks we learned to make were Fruit Yogurt Parfaits and Crunchy Fruit wraps. The ladies should them the importance of having a physically active lifestyle and along with that healthy eating.

“Volunteering…was a good experience because we got to show kids the importance of exercise and eating right. Instead of being in a classroom and learning about it, we got to teach them face to face and gave them a hands on experience that the can use not only in school, but also at home.” Darian Mack, Senior, Outside Hitter, Kentucky. 2016 SEC Community Service Team.

This past summer the Kentucky Volleyball team and I kicked off the summer programs again at William Wells Brown participants had nearly doubled in size with a total of 65 children in attendance. Participation in the garden has also doubled with vegetable and fruit consumption increasing from about 25% to nearly 50%. These children have also encouraged their parents to come to the center and participate in cooking classes.

“This summer and last summer I had the opportunity to work with some of the students in the summer program at William Wells Brown. I loved being able to come in and make a students day brighter or help them with something they didn’t understand. The kids were always open to help from others and always willing to learn and try new things. I think the summer program they have established at William Wells Brown is amazing and I would definitely love helping out in the future.” Emily Franklin, Senior, Middle Blocker, Kentucky