East Meadow Challengers Photo Gallery | Island Harvest Photo Gallery
Garden City, N.Y. -- With fall ball behind them and the spring season ahead of them, the Adelphi University softball team has taken time to be very active in the Lond Island area over the past few weeks.
Following the team's Breast Cancer Awareness Fall Playdate,
which raised over $3,000 for the non-profit Unite for Her, the team hosted the East Meadow Challengers for a game at Janet L. Ficke Field o
n Sunday, October 25th. The East Meadow Challengers provides a baseball/softball environment to individuals with special needs and affords them the opportunity to play and experience exciting, friendly and fun competition.
"I look forward to the Challengers game each fall season," said junior
Melaney Reichelt. "It is an amazing experience working with people with special needs and nothing feels better than watching them excel at the game."
"Playing the Challengers is such a privilege for us," added junior
Fallon McCarthy. "Knowing that we can use our sport to connect with anybody, no matter where they come from, is amazing. Those individuals love the game in the same way we do and that is pretty cool to see."
This year marked the second year in a row that the Panthers hosted the Challengers at Janet L. Ficke Field. The Challengers are run entirely by volunteers and the team commends them for their passion in providing an incredible service to those who so greatly desire and appreciate it.
"Playing the East Meadow Challengers never fails to leave a smile on my face," said junior infielder Christina Palmenteri. "It is such a fulfilling feeling to get to see each and every one of those players compete with maximum effort. Having the opportunity to play this set of athletes was such a great experience. I hope we make just as much of an impact on their lives as they do on mine."
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, the softball squad also participated in a food drive for Island Harvest's Turkey & Trimmings Collection Campaign. Senior Stephanie Barbaro, who was previously a Volunteer Support Intern at Island Harvest and worked to match interested volunteers with a variety of events, such as food drives and sorting/packing food in the warehouse, was a liaison between Island Harvest and the team in order to coordinate on a date and time where they could participate and given back.The team was split into three groups, each of which stood outside a different supermarket asking for donations at local markets -- Stop & Shop (West Hempstead), Uncle Giuseppe's (Port Washington), and Uncle Giuseppe's (Massapequa). They worked from
10:00 am until 2:30 pm on Saturday, November 14th, with the majority of time being spent outside the stores, followed by transporting food donations to the Island Harvest warehouse.
As a team, the Panthers collected $1,096 in monetary donations and 1,005 pounds in food donations.
"I was fortunate enough to work on the inside with Island Harvest this past summer and the opportunity to come back and bring my teammates with me was such a rewarding experience," Barbaro said. "They were so excited to help out with such an influential organization, which made the day even better.
"It is really great to see the impact Island Harvest has on our community and the impact it has on us as volunteers. Seeing the generosity of people firsthand is something people often do not get to experience. It is amazing what 16 of us can do in conjunction with the goodwill of those shoppers that came out to the supermarkets that day."
About Adelphi University AthleticsAdelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009 and in the past six seasons has collected 16 regular season conference titles, 21 tournament championships, 27 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 President's Cup twice (2013 and 2014), while winning five NCAA Division II National Championships.
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