2010-11 Academic Accomplishments

Community Service / Hometown Heroes

Illinois student-athletes were busy reaching out to the Champaign-Urbana community and beyond through their participation in more than 120 Hometown Heroes community service events organized through the Douglass C. Roberts Illini CHAMPS/Life Skills Program.

Student-athletes volunteered more than 6,800 hours during the 2010-11 school year, visiting nursing homes, hospitals, elementary and middle schools, and participating in events with Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Crisis Nursery, the Warm-A-Kid Foundation, and the Eastern Illinois Food Bank, to name just a few.

Here are some of the highlights from the year:

• One hundred student-athletes participated in the seventh annual Special Spectators Tailgate held for kids undergoing treatment for cancer and other blood disorders. The kids played games and ate with the student-athletes prior to attending the Illini football game vs. Southern Illinois as our guests.
• The baseball team hosted a whiffle ball game for kids, along with their dads, from the local Head Start Program in the fall.
• Five Illini teams (Men's Tennis, Men's Track & Field, Women's Golf, Soccer, and Women's Track & Field) donated food baskets to local families at Thanksgiving.
• The volleyball team continued their tradition of adopting Westview Elementary School and has now added a second school, South Side Elementary. The team made several visits to the schools during the year, participating in various events, and then invited the students from both schools to attend a volleyball match on campus in the fall to root for their favorite team.

• Freshmen football players paid a visit to the American Diabetes Camp at Allerton Park and took part in playing various games with the kids and spoke with them about their football experience.
• Student-athletes again took part in the Eastern Illinois Food Bank's "Food For Families" event by collecting canned goods from fans attending the football game vs. Minnesota.
• The women's basketball team participated in a Winter Olympics event at the Champaign County Nursing Home and also participated in a meet and greet at the Champaign Library.
• Forty-four student-athletes took part in nine Walk to School Events at local elementary schools during the year, encouraging kids to walk or ride their bikes to school as a way of staying active.
• The Reading Illini Program allowed more than 150 student-athletes the opportunity to visit local elementary programs to promote the importance of literacy to the youth of our community. Student-athletes took part in five Reading Night events.
• The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) held their annual clothing drive, collecting more than 300 pounds of clothing that they donated to a local shelter.
• For the seventh year in a row, Illini student-athletes hosted a holiday party for kids on the waiting list of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Each Illini athletic team chipped in to raise $1,500 through their Angel Tree Project which provided gift cards to each of the kids attending the holiday party, and also allowed the student athletes to purchase 30 coats and a variety of hats, gloves, and mittens that they donated to the Warm-A-Kid Foundation.
• Illini student-athletes came together for three great causes with their second annual Jock Jams event in February. This variety show featuring Illini teams raised more than $20,000 for Salt and Light Ministry, the Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club, and Student-Athletes Leading Social Change (SALSC). The student-athletes were able to raise enough money to meet their goal of building a second school this year in Ecuador.