Community-service champions

“They are so cute, just the cutest little humans ever.”

— KAYLA WHITE

COMMUNITYSERVICE CHAMPIONS

By Rob White

The Covid-19 pandemic drove Metropolitan State University of Denver student-athletes to change their training regimens over the past year. And the results have been adorable.

Last fall, 33 Roadrunners trained with the Denver Public Library’s Read Aloud program to read virtually to children attending Denver’s Head Start early childhood education centers.

The program, which launched in 1988, was designed to help Denver children develop a love of books and prereading skills while promoting the use of Denver Public Libraries. But it’s clear the student-athletes got a lot out of the experience as well.

“They are so cute, just the cutest little humans ever,” volleyball player Kayla White said. “We read a counting book, and they are super-smart. They were very engaging. As long as I asked them questions, they wanted to tell me everything about themselves.

“It’s been a great opportunity to do community service and to still have social distancing.” This year, while Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference sports seasons MSU DENVER STUDENT-ATHLETE SERVICE BY THE NUMBERS were canceled, postponed, interrupted or altered, Roadrunners remained focused on their goal of serving Colorado communities. Studentathletes and staff have logged more than 1,250 hours of community service at nonprofits such as Food for Thought Denver, Food Bank of the 1,250 Rockies, the Gold Crown Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Project Angel HOURS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE Heart and Read Aloud. MSU Denver Athletics’ work for Food for Thought, which seeks to eliminate childhood hunger, earned the University between September 2020 and February 2021 recognition as a national finalist for the 2021 NCAA Division II Award of Excellence. “We’re excited about the contributions our student-athletes and staff $3,290 have made in the community, and we’re really just starting to hit our VALUE OF SCHOOL SUPPLIES, stride as a department,” said Todd Thurman, MSU Denver’s first-year clothes and hygiene products director of Athletics. “There is nothing more gratifying than to serve the donated to A Precious Child community and make the lives of others better.” While all of the department’s 16 sports and 200-plus student-athletes contribute to community service, the softball team leads the way, with 10,000 a 15-player roster and two-person coaching staff putting in almost 400 CHILDREN WERE PROVIDED hours of service at 14 organizations since September. with Food for Thought “PowerSacks”

“We have wonderful young women in our program, so I’m not packed with two meals surprised by their hard work and dedication to community service,” said softball coach Annie Van Wetzinga. “But I am very proud of the initiatives they have pursued on their own and the overall positive attitude they have taken toward giving back.” 200

The squad’s second baseman-outfielder, Ari Valdez, leads all student- HOURS SPENT READING athletes with more than 36 hours of community service. She decorated to children through Read Aloud food bags for Project Angel Heart, helped sort donations for A Precious Child, packed bags for Food for Thought, created cards for kids and wrote letters to seniors living at the Sunrise in Cherry Creek. Her favorite 2,000 project, though, was the Joy of Giving, a drive-through event organized CHILDREN WHO RECEIVED by the City and County of Denver to provide children with a Christmas Christmas gifts through Joy of Giving experience; Valdez served as an elf gathering gifts for Santa to hand out to children in their cars.

“It was such a special feeling to see the children and families in their car so excited to meet Santa, give him their letters and receive their gift,” said Valdez, a graduate of Denver’s John F. Kennedy High School. Other MSU Denver student-athletes were also able to fill high-demand roles in the Read Aloud program as bilingual readers, adding to MSU Denver’s credentials as a federally designated HispanicServing Institution. “There is nothing more gratifying than to serve the community and make the lives of others better.” — TODD THURMAN AMANDA SCHWENGEL

Men’s soccer player Jerry Gutierrez is equally comfortable speaking Spanish and English, having grown up in a Spanish-speaking household in California, and on the pitch he often communicates with his teammates in Spanish, he said. But he’d never actually shared stories in the language until he volunteered.

“The kids (were) very interactive and liked listening to it,” he said.

Women’s tennis player Gala Castello is from Barcelona, Spain, and speaks Spanish as well as Catalan. When she read a book in Spanish about manners, some words were lost in translation, she said.

“The way I pronounce some words is a little different,” she said, “and they don’t seem to always follow it. But it’s a good experience to know that you are helping little kids.”

While the respective 2020-21 seasons may not have played out as MSU Denver student-athletes and coaches had planned, Thurman said he is confident that the experiences and perspectives they gained from their community service will provide life lessons they take forward after their collegiate careers are over.

“We are continuing to find more ways to engage with the community and to become an even greater asset to the Denver area,” he said. “I’m very proud of how we’ve found ways to do that, even though we’ve spent so much time away from campus.”

For Valdez, volunteering helped her take pride in putting others’ needs before her own.

“With the pandemic going on, I know many parents were struggling financially to support their families,” she said. “Volunteering is something I enjoy doing because it makes me feel accomplished, gives me a purpose and helps me appreciate the things I have in my own life.”