EUGENE, Ore. – With a focus on Christ-Centered Athletics at Northwest Christian University, the weekend before classes begin is a golden opportunity for the Beacons to come together and show their love of Jesus by serving the needs of the Eugene/Springfield community.
Sunday was designated as Beacon Athletics Fall Service Day and over 100 student athletes participated over a number of projects in the area. Assistant Athletic Director Sarah Freeman said, “Everyone worked really hard and I was extremely impressed with the servant leadership that was exhibited and the willingness to help others that our student-athletes embody. The day could not have gone any better.”
For new student athletes, participation in their New Student Orientation program included working with kids at the Project Hope event. Hosted by the One Hope Network, over 52 churches and ministries joined together to host a back-to-school event for the community in the parking lot of Autzen Stadium.
Thousands received free shoes, backpacks, school supplies, and socks. Free meals, snacks and drinks were served and free haircuts were given. With long lines for the giveaway items, student-athletes were on hand to pass out cookies, deliver water, and play with the kids.
Over 60 returning athletes gathered to participate in a pair of service projects through St. Vincent De Paul. The women’s basketball and volleyball teams visited the Ash Meadows Complex in Thurston. Athletes spread bark throughout the nine-home complex and the neighborhood playground, and did other general yard work.
In the hot late-afternoon sun, there might have been countless other places that the ladies could have been, but helping out people in need made the work enjoyable. Sophomore volleyball player Janel Fetters said the residents were very grateful and even brought water and popsicles out to the athletes. “Our attitudes definitely changed,” she said, “when people started coming outside to show their appreciation for our hard work.”
Freshman Chelsea McGowan added, “At first I wasn’t too excited about shoveling bark mulch and wood chips for two hours, but as we started working the families started to watch us work. One man brought his baby girl out to say thank you. A mother and her two daughters had just gotten home from Project Hope at Autzen and were so grateful to us. After seeing the positive impact that we were making, it was encouraging and I enjoyed helping out these families.”
Fetters was also presented a unique opportunity to share the gospel. She said, “One mother came up to me and asked why we were doing this and I got a cool chance to tell her that it is our calling to help others and that I was personally hoping that through this hard work, people would see that God’s people are all around, and that we do care for those in the community.”
Members of the men’s and women’s soccer team, men’s basketball team and softball team spent their afternoon working at a home in the south hills. St. Vincent de Paul’s along with other members of the community have started a “habitat for humanity” style project for veterans. The ‘distressed’ home recently purchased at a low cost and after an extreme makeover of sorts, is intended to be used rented at low cost to veterans.
The forty-plus athletes that convened on the house did some extensive work on the old house including priming and painting a garage, washing walls, yard work, removing a cement porch, digging a drainage ditch, kitchen cleaning, and anything else that could be done in time for a ribbon cutting and move-in on Veterans Day, November 11th, 2011.
It was a long afternoon, but it went so smoothly that the men’s basketball team has already made plans to return for some winter service projects. Freeman said, “This was a pretty large project and the St. Vincent staff was so appreciative of our athletes and their hard work. We have definitely made some solid new connections and will partner with St. Vincent de Paul on future projects.”
Freeman also pointed out a group of four athletes (Alex Crossingham, Chris Longi, Carlos Sandoval, and Brody McGowan) along with three NCU athletic staff members stayed an hour after the teams were dismissed in order to finish a large project removing a cement porch.
Athletic Director Corey Anderson said, “That is the perfect example of why we do this type of thing. We want to serve our community because Christ is at the center of what we do in athletics, not to have stories written on us or to get exposure. The guys who stayed longer did so out of their own desire to finish a job they started and to do it well, serving the Lord by serving others.”
Senior women’s soccer player Brittany McKinley, who helped paint the garage, said, “This was a great opportunity to share God’s love and put our faith into action. This is the kind of work we are called to do. As I took a step back, I looked around and saw people helping and working together for one goal because really it’s not about us, it’s about the families that we are impacting in the long run.”