Mahwah Students Honored For Years Of Charity Work

MAHWAH, NJ — Hundreds of local college athletes were honored for volunteering their times to help everyone from hurricane victims to local needy families.

More than 300 athletes from Ramapo College of New Jersey's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee have participated in the Roadrunners Give Back program over its 20 year existence.

The program was honored by the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey and Commerce magazine recently.

Among those volunteer efforts: Student-athletes held “Tacos for Texas and Florida” with other student organizations and collected $6,000 for hurricane relief victims. They held an on-campus event that raised $3,230 for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Each athletic team donated and distributed Thanksgiving baskets to the Mahwah Center for Food Action for families in need.

In 2016-17, teams contributed in the collection of more than 10,800 canned food items that were distributed to food pantries by the New Jersey Athletic Conference’s “Cans Across the Conference” initiative. Athletes collected, wrapped and distributed hundreds of toys for the annual holiday Toys for Tots drive in conjunction with the Mahwah Police Department.

For the past three years, Ramapo athletes hosted a Special Olympics event on campus and have already scheduled a date for 2018. They participated in the 2017 Relay for Life which raised more than $40,000 last spring for cancer research.

“At Ramapo, our student-athletes excel on and off the field," said Peter P. Mercer, Ramapo College president. "It gives many of us great pride to celebrate their academic achievement, to cheer them on at sporting events, and to boast about the impressive range of their civic and community service."

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Lead photo via Shutterstock

Second photo: Kathleen Alexander, treasurer for CIANJ’S Board of Directors, left, with Cathleen Davey, vice president of institutional advancement and of Ramapo College of New Jersey, who accepted the award on behalf of the Athletics Department. Courtesy of Ramapo College of New Jersey