Athletics: Ragin’ Cajuns Win Sun Belt’s Community Outdoor Service Award

NEW ORLEANS – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns are the winners of the Sun Belt Conference Community Service Award for the month of October.  The honor was announced by the conference on Thursday.
 
The Sun Belt Conference Community Service Initiative is a yearlong competition between the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) programs on each campus.  The program is designed to encourage student-athletes to take a continuous role in community service throughout the academic year. Points for the award are based on service activities, donations, and time committed towards different types of community service projects.
 
Each month the institution with the highest point total for that particular month is named the monthly champion. The institution that wins the most months during the academic year will be named the Sun Belt Conference Community Service Award Winner for that year.
 
Throughout October, Ragin’ Cajuns student-athletes earned a total of 4,383 points.  The Cajuns took part in preparing and distributing Halloween gift bags full of toys to the Women’s & Children’s Hospital.  The men’s golf team volunteered with the Special Olympics in preparing food for participants as well as helping with the events opening ceremony. 
 
Student-athletes from a number of different sports also volunteered time in cleaning up their community by picking trash and putting fresh new coats of paint on buildings at a nearby local park. Student-athletes also collected over $2,290 in raffle ticket sales that will all go to the Heart Walk, which benefits the American Heart Association.
 
Elsewhere around the Sun Belt, Little Rock partnered with Team IMPACT, whose mission is to improve the quality of life for children facing life-threatening and chronic illnesses through the power of teams, in signing Hunter Linam to a National Letter of Intent recently. Linam was diagnosed in Sept. 2014 with Pre-B cell Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, one of the most common types of blood cancers for children today.
 
October Community Service Initiative Point Totals
1. Louisiana – 4,383
2. UT Arlington – 3,265
3. Georgia Southern – 2,789
4. South Alabama – 1,854
5. Little Rock – 1,712
6. Georgia State – 1,294
7. Troy – 933
8. ULM – 713
9. Arkansas State – 439
10. Appalachian State – 297
11. Texas State – 59