BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- WKU Athletics set new Conference USA benchmarks on the field in 2014-15 with eight conference titles and a bowl win, but it also set new internal benchmarks off the field in surpassing 2,000 hours of community service through the Hilltoppers with Heart program this year.
Hilltoppers With Heart is designed to give WKU student athletes, coaches and staff the unique opportunity to make an impact in our community by volunteering their time and talent with numerous organizations. After contributing over 1,000 hours of community service in the community in 2013-14, WKU Athletics set the new benchmark for the program in 2014-15 by eclipsing the 2,000 hour mark.
"I am proud of the contributions that our sports programs and athletic department made this year in continuing to achieve new benchmarks and make additional contributions to the growth and advancement of our communities," said Director of Athletics Todd Stewart. "Just as our student-athletes are excelling on the field of play, they are also making an impact as an involved member of society through their work in our community. Doubling the number of hours that our players and staff served in the community this year is an outstanding achievement that we will continue to build upon in the future. We are proud to work with many organizations to provide opportunities for our student-athletes to go out and in the community, but it doesn't end with what our staff helps orchestrate. Our young people are going out and finding opportunities to serve on their own and that is when the true value of their work shines the brightest."
Passport Health Plan is the presenting sponsor of Hilltoppers with Heart. Passport Health Plan is a provider-sponsored, non-profit, community-based Medicaid health plan that has been contracted with Kentucky's Cabinet for Health and Family Services to administer Medicaid benefits since 1997. Medicaid members can choose Passport to be their health care provider, and as of June 30, 2014, there are more than 6,300 Passport members living in Region 4, which includes Warren County and the campus of Western Kentucky University.
Among the notable efforts that WKU made in 2014-15 were participation in the United Way Day of Caring, Stuff the Bus and the growing WKU Softball program called "Big Red's Readers."
With coaches, staff and student-athletes joining forces, WKU Athletics came together to have around 130 people contribute 275 hours to the annual United Way Day of Caring as part of WKU's Hilltoppers With Heart efforts in July 2014. WKU Athletics worked with projects at Oakland Elementary, Warren East Middle School and the Family Enrichment Center on Adams Street. Throughout the region, nearly 1,000 volunteers representing 70 companies across Allen, Barren, Logan, Simpson, and Warren Counties joined local non-profit organizations to complete more than 76 projects.
The United Way Day of Caring is a structured volunteer opportunity that provides participants with a peek at volunteering. As part of the Day of Caring, businesses make a commitment to offer their employees a chance to "step away from their desks" to provide hands-on, volunteer labor for a wide variety of projects. Team participation in the Day of Caring aids in building camaraderie and goodwill among employees while also helping the community.
Various teams and coaches also supported the annual Stuff the Bus school supply drive in the area. Organized by area radio personality Tony Rose, the event has collected supplies to support those in the surrounding counties that need school supplies to open the school year on a level playing field. Over 9.5 tons of school supplies were collected during the drive in 2014.
Additionally, WKU Softball is making a major impact in area classrooms through their Big Red's Readers program that started in 2014. Big Red's Readers is a donation-driven program that puts stuffed animals into the hands of first and second grade students in the Bowling Green School District. These stuffed animals are given to the students to be used as "reading buddies" throughout the school year. Each child "adopts" their buddy and reads to them for a minimum of 15 minutes each day.
The program got a major boost earlier this year to allow it to reach new heights when WKU softball assistant coach K.C. Boldt, the program's founder at WKU, helped the team earn a $20,000 grant from an on-campus outlet, the WKU Sisterhood. Boldt first got involved with a program similar to Big Red's Reader as a student-athlete at Valparaiso University. Her head coach, Randy Schneider, started a program with stuffed animals as counseling tools in Gary, Ind., called "I Need a Hug."
The Valpo squad continues to run the program, as after 10 years the team has worked with over 3,300 students and 170 classrooms in three counties according to Boldt. A four-year letterwinner and Second-Team All-Horizon League honoree for the Crusaders, Boldt chaired the program as a junior and senior, helping the team with fundraising drives to collect the animals. The program continues to grow at WKU and will also feature leadership opportunities for softball players to begin running the program on their own in the upcoming years to help learn such tools as planning and budgeting in a business setting.
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