{"id":21518,"date":"2024-01-23T14:33:49","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T18:33:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?p=21518"},"modified":"2024-01-24T11:12:12","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T15:12:12","slug":"compete-for-a-cause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/compete-for-a-cause\/","title":{"rendered":"Compete for a Cause Helps K Students Support Local Charities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Ty Horky ’24 (left) and Savera Rajendra-Nicolucci ’24 are co-presidents of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, which created Compete for a Cause to support local charities and foundations.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Kalamazoo College’s football team joined the women’s soccer team in fall by raising breast cancer awareness and supporting the West Michigan Cancer Center with pink t-shirt sales.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Kalamazoo College volleyball spectators supported women’s health and the YWCA by purchasing red t-shirts at a match last fall.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Kalamazoo College\u2019s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee<\/a> (SAAC) developed an idea last fall that is supporting local charities and foundations with the help of students, faculty, staff, parents and the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAAC representatives, including co-presidents Savera Rajendra-Nicolucci \u201924 and Ty Horky \u201924, created Compete for a Cause, which allows K athletic teams that play in a specific season to select a beneficiary to back and a cause to amplify during a chosen Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) game on their schedule. Starting last term, student-athletes collaborated with local nonprofits, donning custom warm-up shirts on game day to raise community awareness. These custom shirts were available for sale, with all proceeds benefitting their partner organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSavera and I have been on the SAAC board since we were sophomores and we\u2019ve moved up the committee together along the way,\u201d Horky said. \u201cDoing this was about how we can make something for the SAAC organization that lasts longer than us being here and how we can implement a plan to give back to the communities around us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAAC\u2019s first steps toward such efforts involved meeting with MIAA Commissioner Chris Brown and K athletics administrative representatives with the hope of getting the entire conference involved and initiate introductions with local charities. Their support proved to be inspiring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the support from administration, from the MIAA Commissioner all the way down, was nothing but positive,\u201d Horky said. \u201cRight off the bat, they just asked, \u2018How can we help you? What can we do to get the ball rolling?\u2019 Everybody being behind us has been a huge help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, despite weathering some in-game storms, the first season of Compete for a Cause was successful. Rajendra-Nicolucci\u2019s women\u2019s soccer squad, for example, chose breast cancer awareness as its cause, selected a game that coincided with a football contest, and conducted a united breast-cancer awareness day between the teams to benefit the West Michigan Cancer Center (WMCC).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Compete for a Cause Games<\/h3>\n\n\n\n