StFX student-athletes start off varsity season by giving back

Antigonish, NS - Three StFX student-athletes are hitting the ground running this fall, not only for their respective sports team, but for charitable causes.

Third year X-Women soccer forward Claire MacDougall, a native of Brookside, N.S. had a unique idea to give back to the community in the form of school supplies donations for needy families that she has worked on for the past number of months.

"I had the idea for this project in January when I read about the issue of poverty that exists in our community in a statistics Canada report," says MacDougall.

"One in seven children in Antigonish County come from families that live below the poverty line. I know from being in school how expensive it can be to purchase school supplies every year especially if you have siblings in school as well. School supplies are very important tools in education and I thought that this project would be an excellent way to level the playing field for children and also raise awareness about poverty that is going on in our community."

BACK TO SCHOOL ICE CREAM SOCIAL

MacDougall has arranged for a 'Back to School Ice Scream Social' event this Sunday, August 25^th from 4:00 to 6:00 pm at the Warren Gardens on the StFX campus, outside the Coady International Institute. Families can drop by for free ice cream and music and shop for gently used school supplies by donation.  The event offers three options: pick up supplies for free, pay what you can for supplies, or donate supplies or money in support of the program—and no one will be able to tell which option you selected.

Claire and her team of volunteer helpers, many of whom are her X-Women soccer teammates, sincerely welcome any donations of new or gently used school supplies which can be dropped off at Sunday's event, at the StFX McKenna Centre or by contacting x2017sdw@stfx.ca.

MacDougall was the recipient of a Frank McKenna Leadership project grant this summer which has allowed her to work on this project full time and provided many resources to make it possible. She plans to expand the project next year and have events in more areas in Antigonish County so that people wishing to receive supplies do not have to drive as far and can benefit from this service in their own neighborhood.

SUPPORT FROM THE GRIDIRON

The school supplies project is also being supported by fellow StFX student-athlete Bailey Wasdal, the starting quarterback with the X-Men football team from Calgary, Alta.

Bailey notes, "I have always felt since I arrived here at X that this is a community in which a contribution can made and felt and noticed, and that if you take initiative here, it will be impactful. To me, that is a great opportunity to go and do something meaningful that will make a difference."

"Entering into my second year here this fall, that is something I really wanted to challenge myself with - finding a way to be impactful in the community. I had talked about different ideas with my parents, and a touchdown sponsorship was an idea something my dad thought of."

What the Wasdal family's touchdown idea entails is that for every touchdown pass completed by Bailey and his fellow quarterback teammates in each StFX home game this season, a local business will donate $100 to a charitable cause. Bailey took this idea to director of football operations Brian Hughes last spring and he thought it was a great idea and ran with it over the summer. Hughes had discussions with local businessman Shannon Stephenson, a longtime supporter of the X-Men football program and StFX Athletics and he agreed to have Stephenson Property Management come on board for the promotion.

Therefore, fans will hear over the speaker at every home game this fall – "thank you to Stephenson Property Management for the donation of $100 towards the Back to School supplies program" every time an X-Men quarterback throws a touchdown pass.

GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY

Wasdal notes his appreciation for the time Hughes put into the promotion and says, "As the promotion developed and Brian and I had discussions about it while looking for a charity to be the recipient of the funding, we knew that the benefit would be twofold:  one would be the impact to the recipient, and the other would be in inspiring our teammates to realize their potential to make contributions in the community as well."

"That second one was very important to me because I believe as athletes we have the capacity to make a contribution far greater than what anyone else can do, so when Brian connected me with Claire and her initiative, I thought that was the perfect fit to help support a fellow athlete's efforts to make a difference."

Claire is also appreciative of the extra funding for the school supplies commenting, "I am so grateful of Bryan and the quarterbacks of the football team for what they are doing to help the project, along with Stephenson Property Management. The funding they will be providing is a huge help in sustaining the project for years to come and to raise awareness."

As for Bailey, he "super excited about this project and so happy it has come together the way it has. All that's left to do now is throw some touchdowns!"

SECOND CHARITABLE INITIATIVE  

But the charitable benefits don't stop there. Hughes thought since Wasdal was going to be throwing touchdown passes for a community charitable benefit, why not have the X-Men kick field goals for the same result?

Enter veteran fourth year kicker/punter Keiran Burnham to the fold.

Burnham, a native of Cambridge, Ont., will have an added bonus to the three points on the scoreboard his X-Men will receive every time he boots a field goal in home games this season. The local StFX Food Resource Centre will also benefit as Atlantic Superstore are on board to donate 25,000 PC points for every X-Men field goal made. Once again, Hughes played an integral role in making the connection with the generous folks at Superstore and the football program to enable the benefit for the Food Resource Centre, and Burnham is happy to oblige.

Keiran himself is already well experienced in the field of giving back to the community. During his first four years at StFX he grew out his hair so he could cut it and donate it to a charitable organization in support of cancer patients. He was inspired by one of his high school teachers back in Cambridge who lost his battle to lung cancer. The teacher was a major influence in Keiran's love of football and he carries his memory with him. Burnham even started a Go Fund Me page in an effort to raise money for cancer awareness.

Burnham, Wasdal and MacDougall are looking forward to the start of their charitable endeavors this weekend and encourage fellow student-athletes to be creative in the ways that they too can use their profile in the community to give back.

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Story courtesy Krista McKenna, StFX Athletics