Community Outreach Year in Review

During the 2018-19 academic year, UNC student-athletes, coaches and staff members teamed up to contribute more than 5,000 hours of service to the community. The Tar Heel impact was spread throughout Orange County, with a particular emphasis on UNC Hospitals and the local elementary schools.

Among the projects and contributions in 2018-19 were:

UNC Hospitals

Visits with patients and providing patient experiences (for example, visits to practices and to games)
The fall of 2018 marked the 29th year of Football Friday Visits to the Children's Hospital
Carolina Athletics made its annual visit to the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center.
HEELoween Hospital Party at the Children's Hospital: The Tar Heels hosted a HEELoween Party at UNC Children's Hospital, decorating the Pediatric Play Atrium then leading games and crafts for the little goblins and super heroes who visited. Student-athletes also took kids trick or treating around the hospital and visited rooms of those who couldn't attend the party.
Student-athletes assisted with the Children's Hospital Caregiver Dinners throughout the year
Continued partnership with the Widowed Parent Program.
Teams organized several fundraisers throughout the year:
- The men's lacrosse, baseball and field hockey teams raise funds for Vs. Cancer, which teams with UNC Lineberger to battle childhood cancers.
- The rowing team staged its annual Erg-A-Thon, supporting breast cancer research through UNC Lineberger.
- The wrestling team launched a partnership with UNC Children's Hospital, providing a special gameday experience for four patients through its kids' captains program and raising more than $5,000.

Met some awesome kids today and loved hearing about the ways they're being impacted by the funds we raise for @Vs_Cancer! More here ➡️ https://t.co/eijWrh6ZMT#GoHeelsBeatCancer 🏑💙 pic.twitter.com/UzkGe9dSzt
— UNC Field Hockey (@UNCFieldHockey) October 18, 2018

Community Impact

Share Your Holiday: UNC teams and athletic department staff members participated in the annual Share Your Holiday program in partnership with Orange County Social Services, sponsoring 32 people and donating more than $8,000 to purchase gifts. Additionally, men's basketball partnered with Onslow County Christmas Cheer and women's basketball adopted a local family.
Habitat for Humanity: Teams held a total of five build days, including fencing, gymnastics and three which included groups from different teams.
Female student-athletes shared their sports with more than 600 young girls and boys at the annual UNC National Girls & Women in Sports Day celebration, which grows larger each year.
SECU Family House: The rowing team provided three meals during the year.
Ronald McDonald House: The women's basketball and softball teams baked cookies, and student-athletes provided manual labor and helped with various tasks and projects throughout the year.
Student-athletes visited or provided assistance to the following organizations: Bridge 2 Sports, Carolina Campus Community Garden, Edible Campus, TABLE, Meals on Wheels and Project Uplift.

This past Sunday, student-athletes teamed up to cook dinner for guests at the @SECUFamilyHouse. Watch out for these future chefs @WeFuelTheHeels! #HEELStogether pic.twitter.com/wBAAOEquIH
— UNC Student-Athlete Development (@UNC_SADev) June 4, 2019

Hurricane Relief

Nearly 50 student-athletes from 11 different sports gathered monetary donations during the UNC-Pitt football game on Sept. 22, teaming with volunteers from the Carolina For The Kids Foundation. They raised nearly $7,000 for the UNC Disaster Relief Fund to support Carolina's response to hurricane-impacted areas.
During spring break, three Tar Heels joined with student-athletes from other conference schools for the first-ever ACC Hurricane Relief Trip.
Carolina Athletics also supported relief efforts by helping to gather and load truckloads of supplies headed for the Eastern part of the state.

Great first day of the Hurricane Relief Service Trip to Wilmington with @VTSADevelopment @ClemsonSADev @DukeSADev! @FoodBankCENC ✅@DiaperBankNC ✅#TeamingUpToLead 🐏🐅🦃👿 pic.twitter.com/PDPyyTuNnk
— UNC Student-Athlete Development (@UNC_SADev) March 16, 2019

Education

As part of the Duke Energy "Read Like a Champion" Day on Oct. 9, UNC student-athletes read to a total of 41 classrooms at 11 local elementary schools. Sixty-five student-athletes from 20 different teams participated in the initiative, interacting with more than 900 children.
The UNC Pen Pal Program, a partnership with New Hope Elementary, completed its sixth year. Over 300 student-athletes representing nearly every team exchanged letters six times a year with elementary students, then the pen pals meet at a UNC baseball game in April.
UNC hosted an "Education Day" at the women's basketball game on November 14.
Student-athletes visited schools throughout the year. They read to classes, helped with PE activities and took part in special events.
Tar Heels participated in the Northside Elementary School Read-A-Thon and the Rashkis Elementary African American Read-In.
Staff members and coaches were guest speakers at seven All-Pro Dads events.

Annnnnd our @UNC_SADev from @TarHeelFootball @UNCSoftball even tried to do "the floss" with our 5th grade @NorthsideES @chccs Navigators. Awesome readers — awesome dancers. Thanks @GoHeels friends for participating in the fun of #NESReadathon2019 #chccslibraries pic.twitter.com/GjFV4T6vuI
— Northside Library (@NESlibrary) February 7, 2019

After months of exchanging letters, student-athletes met their pen pal at the annual meet and greet at a @DiamondHeels game! Around 300 student-athletes participated in the program with New Hope Elementary this year 📝📬 #HEELStogether #GDTBATH pic.twitter.com/CtdPILT4Iq
— UNC Student-Athlete Development (@UNC_SADev) May 15, 2019

Top Six for Service Awards
Six Tar Heels were honored with 2018-19 ACC Top Six for Service Awards, recognizing outstanding involvement throughout the year. The recipients, announced at the Rammy Awards in April, are:
• Morgan Goetz (Field Hockey)
• Jacob Henkels (Men's Fencing)
• Toby Song (Men's Golf)
• Leah Murray (Softball)
• Jocelyn Jones (Women's Basketball)
• Kate Morris (Women's Soccer)

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