Longwood University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) members have collected over 825 pounds of food for donation to the Farmville Area Community Emergency Services (FACES) food pantry this year. The donation drive, just one of many community service initiatives SAAC is involved with, is part of the Big South Conference's year-long food drive.

“I'm really happy about what the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has done,” said Longwood Director of Compliance and SAAC Advisor Alex Ricker-Gilbert. “They've taken a strong initiative with this Big South Food Drive and have helped serve the need in the Farmville community by doing so. The student-athletes have gotten involved, the general student body has gotten involved and the entire university community has gotten involved. It's something we can really be proud of as an athlet-ics department and I hope that the support continues throughout the year.

“We're going to continue this initiative and hope to finish strong and keep providing for the community.”

Four members of SAAC joined Ricker-Gilbert at FACES recently to drop off a load of canned and non-perishable goods to Linda Satkowski, a volunteer for the food pantry. SAAC President and LU women's lacrosse team member Jamie Brentlinger was joined by Ashley Cornell, a senior on the softball team, Kaye Goulding, a senior on the field hockey team, and Kelsey McDonald, a sophomore on the women's soccer team.

“It's a really good experience to give back to the community that supports us and enables us to play in this fantastic area and in the facilities that we do,” said Goulding, a member of the SAAC Executive Committee. “After hearing the stories that FACES told us today, it's great to know that we are helping those people in need that are surrounding us and where we play.”

All 12 Big South schools are taking part in the food drive. The school that collects and donates the most food, in pounds, to a local charity by the end of the year will win the conference's Kallander Cup, a fundraising competition between member institu-tions to benefit charities. Donations can be brought to Tabb Hall, Office 106. For more information or to make a donation, please contact Ricker-Gilbert at rickergilbertar@longwood.edu.