BULLS NEWS

UB Student-Athlete Advisory Committee To Hold Sixth Annual CareWears Day

UB student-athletes will arrive at Hamlin Park in the morning to pick up 25 chosen students, who will then be taken to Aeropostale in the Boulevard Mall for a $100 per student shopping spree. Aeropostale will provide extra staff to allow its sales associates to dedicate their full attention to the Hamlin Park students, each of whom will be accompanied by a UB student-athlete as they select clothes and decide how to spend their gift card. An afternoon of shopping will give way to a much-needed lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant before returning to school.

Students in grades seven and eight at Hamlin Park were given the opportunity to partake in a “What Makes Me Unique” art contest. They were encouraged to be artistic in making a piece of art that portrays their idea of what makes them unique. Their teachers and UB Student-Athletes then selected 25 winners to participate in the CareWears Day.

CareWears was brought to UB by women’s soccer player Anna-Lesa Calvert, whose high school in Dallas originated the idea when local grade school students expressed a need for newer clothes through embarrassment of their frayed pants, shorts and shirts. The high school students and staff organized a clothing drive every six weeks, and the students were able to “buy” clothes using $100 in play money.

With Aeropostale’s sponsorship, UB Athletics has had the opportunity to expand the program each year. Last year, 30 student from West Hertel Elementary School took part in this event. In 2006, 25 students from Highgate Heights School were selected to participate. In 2004, 20 students from School 53 participated in the event, and twelve students from West Hertel Academy participated in the inaugural CareWears event in 2003. SAAC’s goal is to keep expanding the CareWears program to help more students and to engage more UB student-athletes. An addition to the program is that; for the course of this past school year, members of UB Athletics volunteered at Hamlin Park in an after school program; in which they helped with homework and anything else the kids needed to work on.

“CareWears continues to be a great opportunity for our student-athletes to mentor young people in the Buffalo community,” said Sharon Sanford, Assistant Athletic Director. “Our hope is that the children of Hamlin Park School understand and appreciate the importance of leadership and strive to be good leaders in their communities in the future.”