Rutgers Leadership Academy Annual Week of Service
Nov 06
Rutgers student-athletes will volunteer at Elijah’s Promise Soup Kitchen in New Brunswick from Nov. 6-10
The Rutgers Leadership Academy's Annual Week of Service is here! Rutgers student-athletes will volunteer at Elijah's Promise Soup Kitchen in New Brunswick from Nov. 6-10.
Elijah's Promise harnesses the power of food to break the cycle of poverty, alleviate hunger, and change lives. Its community soup kitchen in New Brunswick serves almost 300 meals a day and over 100,000 meals a year to individuals who would otherwise go hungry. Elijah's Promise serves all who come through its doors and take pride in preparing the most delicious and healthy meals possible for its guests.
The Annual Week of Service is just one of the many initiatives the Scarlet Knights take part in throughout the year through RLA.
RLA is a privately funded entity whose mission is to equip the student-athletes at Rutgers University with the knowledge and skills they need to achieve success both during and after their collegiate careers by providing year-round opportunities for advancement in five key areas: leadership training, career development, community engagement, personal enrichment, and letter winner engagement. For more on the vision of RLA, click here.
In between their athletic and academic achievements, Rutgers student-athletes made 89 community appearances in 2016-17 and performed 5,108 hours of community service. Rather than take a much-deserved break to begin their summers, nine student-athletes traveled to Honduras with RLA in June to benefit Soles4Souls, a global not-for-profit dedicated to fighting poverty. Shoes and clothing was distributed in poor and disadvantaged communities via the initiative.
Follow Rutgers Athletics on Twitter and Instagram (@RUAthletics), and Facebook (Rutgers Athletics) for all of the latest news and updates.
Elijah's Promise harnesses the power of food to break the cycle of poverty, alleviate hunger, and change lives. Its community soup kitchen in New Brunswick serves almost 300 meals a day and over 100,000 meals a year to individuals who would otherwise go hungry. Elijah's Promise serves all who come through its doors and take pride in preparing the most delicious and healthy meals possible for its guests.
The Annual Week of Service is just one of the many initiatives the Scarlet Knights take part in throughout the year through RLA.
RLA is a privately funded entity whose mission is to equip the student-athletes at Rutgers University with the knowledge and skills they need to achieve success both during and after their collegiate careers by providing year-round opportunities for advancement in five key areas: leadership training, career development, community engagement, personal enrichment, and letter winner engagement. For more on the vision of RLA, click here.
In between their athletic and academic achievements, Rutgers student-athletes made 89 community appearances in 2016-17 and performed 5,108 hours of community service. Rather than take a much-deserved break to begin their summers, nine student-athletes traveled to Honduras with RLA in June to benefit Soles4Souls, a global not-for-profit dedicated to fighting poverty. Shoes and clothing was distributed in poor and disadvantaged communities via the initiative.
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STEVEN HILLENBRAND (Men's Lacrosse): "As a student-athlete it can be hard not to get caught up in the day-to-day grind of our individual sports. Between practices, lifts, meetings, and other team activities it can be a lot to balance, especially when you take into account academic commitments as well. However, I feel the Athletic Department, through Rutgers Leadership Academy, does an amazing job of providing opportunities for Rutgers student-athletes to get out and give back to a community that does so much for us. One such opportunity is the Annual Week of Service at Elijah's Promise. "Elijah's Promise is a community soup kitchen in New Brunswick and their mission is to.. "harnesses the power of food to break the cycle of poverty, alleviate hunger, and change lives." Volunteering at Elijah's Promise with other student-athletes throughout this week helps us gain a real perspective into other people's lives you wouldn't otherwise have. People walking through the door are from all walks of life and are simply looking for a hot meal. Others are there for the food, but also just want to have a conversation. Throughout the night volunteers help with meal preparation, serving food, washing dishes, and then clean up afterward. It is truly a humbling experience and one I am glad to be a part of as a Scarlet Knight." |
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CHLOE LEE (Tennis): "This is my fourth year volunteering at Elijah's Promise Soup Kitchen. I absolutely love going over there around this time of year. I went on Monday, day one of the week, and I was cleaning tables and doing the after-dinner clean up. I got to talk to some of the patrons and they were all so supportive of Rutgers Athletics. Their faces just lit up with they saw my Rutgers Tennis shirt, and they wanted to know how my season was and how practice and classes were going. " |
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JOEY DOWNES (Men's Basketball): "This past Tuesday, along with four of my teammates, I was able to spend over three hours volunteering at Elijah's Soup Kitchen. The best part for me was getting the chance to spend time out of my comfort zone, learning stories about some of the homeless, and also making conversation about things going on in the world today. We talked football and basketball, and politics too, with every single person we came in contact with. Every conversation resulted in laughs and smiles from both sides. Aside from cleaning dishes, cutting up onions, and handing out food, getting the chance to see the smiles on all of the people's faces was truly humbling. They were all so thankful for our help and we hope to get back there at some point during the winter!" |
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NIKKI PROFITA (Field Hockey): "This year was my second year volunteering at the soup kitchen and I've thoroughly enjoyed both experiences. It is great that we are presented with the opportunity to volunteer with a program that gives back to our surrounding community. Several other volunteers from the area were also assisting in tasks for preparation for the next round that we got to interact with. One of the chefs exclaimed, "We love Rutgers people!" To hear something like that makes me want to continue to volunteer this year and in future years." |
Follow Rutgers Athletics on Twitter and Instagram (@RUAthletics), and Facebook (Rutgers Athletics) for all of the latest news and updates.
Monday, June 15
Wednesday, May 27
Wednesday, May 27
Thursday, May 21
