From Kelsey Holmberg, Case Western Reserve University Women's Swimming
During their annual training trip to Pompano Beach, Florida, the Case Western Reserve University swimming and diving team spent an afternoon volunteering at Feeding South Florida. As a part of Feeding America, the organization provides meals to over 710,370 people in the Miami area.
The Spartans' program has participated in a team service project for five consecutive years and 2018 marked its third year working with Feeding South Florida. Led by coaches Doug Milliken and Kristy Miller, the team spent Tuesday assisting at Feeding South Florida’s main facility in Pembroke Park. They split into groups and were busy inspecting, sorting, and packaging food for redistribution. The team’s efforts resulted in 18,000 meals.
Volunteering was a welcome break between workouts as well as an opportunity to engage with the local community. Milliken hopes that including a service element on the team trip emphasizes the value of giving back. “The members of our team have been very fortunate with the opportunities that they’ve had,” he said, “but it is important to remember that there will always be others around us in need.” He emphasizes that regardless of where the student-athletes go in life, he hopes that they will continue to look for opportunities to pay it forward.