A lot of us want to offer something to the community but just need to find ways of doing it that don't conflict with other commitments. One of our goals, for example, is to have each varsity athletic team commit one day during the course of the year to a community service effort. The crew team, for instance, spent one day helping Habitat for Humanity work on Collegiate House a Habitat for Humanity project in the Newhallville section of New Haven in which volunteers are area college students . The goal is to make it easy for athletes to get out in the community and to get them excited about it. Last year more than 200 of us performed some kind of community service, and I think that's great.
Athletes can make wonderful role models for kids in the community.
Yale College senior Greg Lund, a member of the men's lacrosse team, is one of the hundreds of athletes who are setting aside time this year to become involved in community work. Sometimes I felt tired and I had to push myself to go. But once I was there, I always got so much out of it. Being involved in the community is something that I feel I cannot not do. And I said 'Man, I had to work real hard to get this jacket,' and I told him about the kind of practice and work it took.