ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – Going into the 2019 holiday season, the UCF Men's Golf team made sure they did their part to bring cheer to the community. In early November, the Knights went out of their way to help both the less fortunate and the youth of tomorrow in the form of community service endeavors like #HashtagLunchBag and Education Day.
Juan Delgado (right) passing out basketballs to elementary school students on education day.
On November 6, the UCF Women's Basketball team opened up their season at Addition Financial Arena. But, it was no normal home opener. The Knights invited nearly 5,000 third through fifth grade students from 15 schools in the OCPS school system.
Students in attendance were provided with an Education Day booklet that includes educational and interactive components that could be completed throughout the course of the game. Members of the UCF basketball team also wore shirts of the schools in attendance during warmups.
The UCF Men's Golf team made sure they made their impact on the day as well, showing up to greet the kids, high fiving them and even passing out balls!
"Our men's golf student-athletes are an extremely fortunate group when it comes to all of the opportunities and backing that has been provided to them from both our athletic department and our supporters in the community," said UCF Men's Golf Head Coach Bryce Wallor.
"This is a period when our players have a bit of downtime in the offseason and they can hone in on their academic pursuits as well as spend some time making an impact for others in our community. Giving time to both people and special causes can change the trajectory of someone's day, or maybe the path they will choose to go, and that is a special thing."
Jordan Sarhaddi (right) and Jake Grula (left) high fiving elementary school students as they
enter the arena for the UCF Women's Basketball game on education day.
In addition to helping out on education day, the Knights turned their attention toward the less fortunate in the community a few days later, helping out at #HashtagLunchBag.
#HashtagLunchBag is a humanity service movement dedicated to empowering and inspiring humanity to reap the benefits of giving through the use of social media. They create and use bagged lunches, complete with love messages, as a vessel to spread love and share experiences to inspire others.
The Black and Gold couldn't wait to be a part of such an impacting experience. Each student-athlete took the time to make customized lunch bags before going to downtown Orlando to pass them out.
The UCF Men's Golf team writing notes on lunch bags to inspire others.
"It meant so much to be able to give back to the community in the #HashtagLunchBag movement," said UCF Men's Golf student-athlete Johnny Travale. "It opened a lot of our eyes on what goes on in some people's lives who are less fortunate than us and it reminds us that we have a good thing going, and giving back and helping out people in the community goes a long way for people in need."
If you would like to more about the Hashtag Lunch Bag movement, click here.
The holidays mean so much more to UCF than just receiving gifts or enjoying time off. To the Knights, it's all about giving back. We challenge you to do the same.
Happy Holidays, and as always,#ChargeOn.