BRISTOL, R.I. - As the semester winds down the student-athletes at Roger Williams University finish up with their last week of classes and prepare for the tests before the long break between semesters. Before heading home for the holidays and vacation, they are making time to work hard in the community helping others prepare to celebrate the holidays as well.
Members of the Wrestling, Men's and Women's Basketball, and Softball teams all participated in different functions to help out others in the community. Coach Dave Kemmy and the Wrestling Team as well as Coach Mike Tully and the Men's Basketball team both did functions for the Bristol Vets Club, Coach Tracey Hathaway and the Women's Basketball team are in the process of completing a semester long series of weekly visits to the Bristol schools, and the Softball team will be going to the Bristol Parks and Recreation Center to wrap all of the holiday presents for them. Also, 19 members from the Sailing team went to the Bristol Veterans Home and did some landscaping for them. All of these teams deserve recognition for their charitable acts this holiday season.
At the Rhode Island Veterans Club Coach Dave Kemmy has organized a number of events so far to help the Veterans celebrate and enjoy the Christmas season. The team members have taken time to go to the home and simply spend some time with the Vets who are from all over Rhode Island and are of all ages. The team helps put on Bingo events, movies and music, and also do things as simple as hang out and have a good conversation over a game of pool.
Coach Kemmy stated, “Usually the team does something to give back to the youth in the area. This year we decided to take a different approach and put in some time on the other end of the spectrum and give back to those that have given so much to our country.”
Also helping out at the Vets Club was Mike Tully and the Men's Basketball Team who went there and tested all of the Christmas lights and set up the trees for the veterans. The team traveled to the home in Bristol and got all the Christmas lights and trees out from storage, set them all up and tested them to make sure that they were in working order and ready for decorating by the Veterans.
The Women's Basketball team and Coach Tracey Hathaway have been deeply involved with the Bristol schools in the area, and have been traveling to them on a weekly basis to help out with the children and spend some time with them. Since the second week in September the girls on the team have been going to the Colt Andrew Elementary School in Bristol to help out the Kindergarteners and first and second-graders. The team members work in the library as well as act as aids that follow the teacher's lead and help the young children develop skills in Art, Mathematics, and Music.
The Softball team will be joining these three teams in showing off their Christmas spirit and giving back to the community. The team will be spending some of the day on Wednesday traveling to the Bristol Parks and Recreation Center to help wrap all of their presents before Christmas. This is the sixth time that the Softball team has done this. Each year the whole team goes to the Parks and Recreation Center and wraps all of the presents that are for the children of Bristol. Each year the Recreation Center holds a Christmas party and distributes gifts to the children of Bristol that may not have the benefits of a festive holiday.
On December 1st, 19 members from the Sailing team traveled to the Bristol Veterans Home to put in some community service time as well. In total, the team put in 28.5 hours of work as they were raking, pulling weeds and clearing overgrowth around the home to clean things up before the winter months. The home provided them with everything the men and women needed and the team was able to clear two garden and patio areas in their time there.
All of these teams have shown an enormous amount of holiday spirit in the weeks leading up to Christmas and throughout the semester. Although this may be a lot to ask at this point in the semester with finals approaching and students being overwhelmed with work, they were still able to find a way to take some time and give back to the Bristol Community.
The student-athletes and the Athletics Department at Roger Williams would like to wish all a safe, happy, and enjoyable holiday season.
