WORCESTER, Mass. – The Worcester State University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and the student-athletes of Worcester State helped donate 535 items to the St. John’s Food for the Poor and Sherry’s House last week.

“SAAC involvement is growing each year and it’s great to see them giving back to the community,” stated SAAC Advisor and Coordinator of Student-Athlete Support Services, Kelly Downs.

The Worcester State University athletic teams collected items for the week of Nov. 30 – Dec. 4 and donated the items on Friday. Each team competed with each other to see who could donate the most items. Worcester State’s women’s cross country came in first place, while the field hockey and volleyball teams came in second and third place, respectively.

The items were given to two local communities - St. John’s Food for the Poor and Sherry’s House. St. John’s Food for the Poor is an organization which serves 250 poor and homeless men, women, and children daily in the city of Worcester. Sherry’s House is a group that provides support and encouragement to children and families with childhood cancer.

“SAAC, as a group, loves to help out the community in any way we can,” stated SAAC president and field hockey player, Meghan Pini. “This was our second year doing the canned food drive and there was a huge improvement from last year. We collected over 500 cans and I was really impressed.”

“The food drive this semester was double the amount from last year so I’m excited to see the advances in the coming years,” said Downs.

St. John’s Food for the Poor – http://www.stjohnsfoodforthepoor.org/

Sherry’s House - http://www.whyme.org/sherrys-house.php