Winner of the 2021-22 Southland Strong Community Service Award
Planning:
Pillar #1: Donations
SAAC collected donations from 10/25 – 12/1 to create 100 Cardinal Care Kits to be donated to people without homes in San Antonio. The kits included hygiene products, food products, and clothing items. Monetary donations were accepted and there were donation bins located all over campus
On December 3rd, SAAC had raised over $3,000 in donations and created 106 Cardinal Care Kits! See below for what was in each kit.
Pillar #2: Activity
SAAC partnered with Northeast Transition Services (NETS), a program for Special Education Students (age 18-22), and brought them onto campus and taught them various warm up, cardio, abdominal, and yoga exercises that they could do with no equipment. Student-athletes led the exercises, and gave them a tour of campus. Each NETS student left with a yoga mat, a bag of goodies, NETS activity cards, empowerment and knowledge of UIW. Click on below link for activity cards that the students participated in.
Pillar #3: Education
This prong called for a little more creativity and research. SAAC members created 16 original education pieces that were distributed to people with out homes, adult students with disabilities (NETS), and the UIW community during tabling events. The education pieces centered on health and wellness. Click the links below to see the education pieces.
Testimonials:
“NETS, 18+Transition Program, were fortunate enough to experience the heart and pride of UIW’s student-athletes and Life Skills/SAAC Program. The impact and memories this opportunity provided for our adult students, is immeasurable. The student-athletes provided an experience our students would have not been privileged to have on their own. Several NETS students had so much pride while on the UIW campus, many of them promised to return on their own for events, or even find a way to become a Cardinal themselves. That is an accomplishment that cannot be taught, but only experienced. The heart and pride of the student-athletes who participate in the program, are a true reflection of a UIW Cardinal. We are forever grateful to all of them and hope we get the opportunity to return." -Melissa Serda, North East Transition Services (NETS) Transition Teacher/Case Manager and UIW Alum
"The SAAC Health and Wellness Program that I helped with was so awesome! We impacted so many lives as well as my own! Here at UIW, one of our values is helping our community. This is one of many initiatives, projects, and programs that we do for our community. I’m from New Mexico and when I came to UIW, the community embraced and welcomed me. In return it’s our/my job to give back! We had three parts to this program, an education piece, fundraising/donating, and activity. Each one of these three pieces was amazing! I participated in leading the NETS students through some exercise and yoga. The interaction with was great, I still to this day talk to one of the students every Saturday! I also helped fundraise for our Cardinal Care Kits which we then donated to Haven for Hope which was then given to people without homes in San Antonio. I truly enjoyed it as well as grew as a person. Everyone has a story, and some stories are harder than others or isn’t given the same opportunity but at the end of the day we all are human. No matter who you are or what you do, helping those in need will allow you to grow as a person! This program impacted so many lives and I’m so blessed to have been a part of it!" -Warren Fulgenzi, Men's Tennis/SAAC Vice President
“This Health and Wellness program impacted me in many ways. I think my favorite part was being able to interact with the NETS students and getting to know them as well as take them through activities to help them. Their smiles were priceless. They were all so joyful and I was really grateful I got to be there. Another part of the program was packing the Cardinal care kits. I wanted to make sure each one I was able to pack was perfect because I knew whoever was receiving it really needed it. I learned many valuable things through this experience. I learned that not everyone has the same opportunities when it comes to health and wellness so taking the time to bring a friend with you when you do exercises is important. I also learned that everyone has their own struggles so if you’ve found a way that helps you cope with your struggles you should share it with a friend because it may help them too. I like giving back because it makes me happy and the smile on people's faces and knowing I’m making a difference is something that makes me feel full inside. I think giving back for me isn’t just me helping others. They’re helping me because I always learn something more about myself through every event I do.” -Keeley Ayala, Women’s Soccer/SAAC Rep