- SOFTBALL STANDS OUT WITH I NEED A HUG
Valparaiso University softball player K.C. Boldt works with students from Parkview Elementary School in Valparaiso as part of the Reading Buddies program. The Valparaiso University softball team has plenty of on-field highlights to be proud of, including a 35-win season in 2010.
But coach Randy Schneider is equally proud of what the Crusaders have accomplished away from the diamond through the I Need a Hug program.
In its seventh year, I Need a Hug is a regional effort that collects new stuffed animals for elementary school guidance counselors to use as supportive tools for children facing difficult times. An endeavor that began with distribution of a few hundred stuffed animals, I Need a Hug, a partnership between the softball team and the United Way of Porter County, has expanded to include all of Lake, LaPorte, and Porter counties, and is responsible for the collection of thousands of stuffed animals annually.
“My attitude is, anybody can just go to college,” Schneider said of his players’ extra effort. “They are doing community, academics, and athletics.”
Each student-athlete has a responsibility to contribute to the team’s community outreach efforts, Schneider said, which also includes mentoring young people through the Reading Buddies program. “We want to get out into the community,” Schneider said. “The people have a real appreciation for that. When you go out into the community, everybody wants to hear from the student-athletes. That’s why we strive to get them involved.”
On the agenda this fall is for student-athletes in the program to learn grant-writing skills so that funding can be pursued on behalf of I Need a Hug. “The program needs a boost,” Schneider said. “That’s what’s going to get the program moving.”
K.C. Boldt, a senior outfielder from Red Wing, Minn., says that I Need a Hug and its sister program, Reading Buddies, both use teddy bears as a way to connect with children.
“It’s given me great experience,” she said of the volunteer efforts. “As a team, we know the value of community service and service leadership — helping others and serving others. For me, personally, it’s very rewarding.”
Schneider said that other universities have looked at Valpo’s success with the steadily growing I Need a Hug program, as has the national United Way. “It has that unique sound to it and everything else,” Schneider said. “We’re on the verge of taking the program to new heights.”
He said it is important to recognize the United Way’s contributions to I Need a Hug.
“The University has a special relationship with United Way,” he said. “The United Way promotes this more than anybody.”
To learn more about how to help, contact coach Randy Schneider at randy.schneider@valpo.edu
For more information on the softball program, visit
http://www.valpoathletics.com/softball/.