Principia Kicks Off Year With Week Of Giving
Principia College once again kicked off the school year with a "Week of Giving". The fall athletic teams (men's and women's soccer, men's and women's cross country, and volleyball) spent last week giving back to their community; helping various businesses and organizations throughout Alton and the St. Louis metro area.
The men's soccer team started their week of giving on the Principia College campus, helping the housekeepers clean up Hay Field House and Crafton Center. The student-athletes assisted with washing windows, sweeping cobwebs, and doing whatever else was helpful to the housekeepers in getting the campus ready for move in.
Angie, a housekeeper that works for Principia College and sees the men's soccer team on a regular basis when she cleans their locker room commented, "It's awesome to have the kids come out and help us. This is stuff that we do once a year, cleaning the cobwebs and major deep cleaning, they are doing a great job and it looks good. I'm so proud of them- they are my boys, I take care of their locker room and they do such a good job keeping their locker room clean during the year. They seem to be having fun doing the work, I couldn't ask for more!"
The men's team finished up their day by supporting the boys soccer team at the Principia Upper School in St. Louis for two games on Tuesday night.
The women's soccer team started their week with a trip to the Oasis Women's Shelter in Alton, Illinois. Some members of the team helped to clear the basement in the women's shelter while other team members swept floors, washed toys, cleaned rooms and other chores to help in any way.
Meagan Fleming, Associate Director of Soccer, comments, "We were grateful Oasis allowed us to come and help them with different chores. We had players cleaning the kitchen, sweeping and mopping floors, washing toys, chairs, clearing the basement of trash, sorting clothes, and shredding paper. Oasis does so much good for those seeking a safe environment, we were happy we could lighten their work load."
The volleyball and men's and women's cross country teams began their week by heading to Peace Haven Association, a Christian Science nursing facility, to volunteer their time with residents and do chores. The student-athletes painted the nails in the annual "nails for nana" event where residents can get their nails done by a college student, while also engaging in fun conversation. One resident was even able to connect with a volleyball player, who spoke her native language, German, and they had a great time conversing together. Other team members played ping-pong and balloon noodle ball with interested residents. Some of the volleyball team members created hand-written quote pages for the residents, while the remaining players and runners helped with moving furniture and landscaping.
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