The Amherst Student will regularly provide updates on initiatives carried about by the Amherst Athletic Team Engagement Leader program (ATEL). Individual team ATELs remained busy in the past few months, engaging with the local community in various ways.

Back on Feb. 22, members of the women’s volleyball team volunteered with Not Bread Alone, a group that provides homemade, hot meals to those in need of them.

Nicole Gould ’17, the team’s ATEL noted how working with Not Bread Alone is the perfect way for her and her teammate to engage with the community. “This particular community engagement is a good fit for my team because we all enjoyed preparing the meals together,” she said. “We all had our own assigned task for the meal so it was great to see my team working together in a different way than we do on the court.”

Following food prep, the team served meals. Some of the guests were younger children, and the team took the opportunity to teach them how to play volleyball.

In other community engagement news, last month, on March 9 members of the women’s softball team planned and hosted a pizza party and bingo night at the Amherst Senior Center.

All team members played different roles in the event, with some shopping for prizes for the bingo winners and others assisting in event set up.

The players served pizza and led the game, but also had the opportunity to bond with the seniors as they played side by side.

Local restaurants Antonio’s and Lone Wolf also donated gift certificates for the event.

Alena Marovitz ’17, the team’s ATEL, was instrumental in the event’s success, communicating with the senior to plan the day. “Our team realized the positive impact we can have on others in the Amherst area,” she said.

Finally, on March 11 members of the women’s soccer team volunteered with the Amherst Survival Center. The Survival Center has been operating since 1976 and helps members of the community to meet their needs when they are struggling.

During the offseason, the team has been visiting the survival center to share a meal with members of the local community who are visiting on that particular day.

In addition to their visits to the survival center, the team recently started a diaper drive initiative to help the center meet their demand for diapers.

“Our goal was to be able to find something we could be passionate about, something that we would genuinely enjoy,” women’s soccer ATEL Sarah Frohman ’17 said. “It’s not about how much money you can raise ... it’s about being able to look back and cherish memories and know that we made an impact.”