In an effort to give back to the community, San Jose State student-athletes are volunteering to provide essential items like food and face masks to low-income community members.
The student-athletes are volunteering at the San Jose African American Community Service Agency (SJ AACSA), a Downtown San Jose-based agency that promotes educational, social and recreational programs and services to strengthen African American identity, values and family life, according to its website.
Milan Balinton, executive director of the agency, said over the phone that he noticed more SJSU student-athletes volunteering at the agency’s community service programs this year than in the past decade.
“I’ve been with the agency for 17 years [and there were never this many student-athletes],” Balinton said. “It’s more than just one, it’s 10 or 15 people showing up [to volunteer].”
Balinton said most student-athletes volunteer at the AACSA Cares program, which takes place every first and third Friday of the month. During the program, community members in need of toiletries, food or coronavirus prevention gear can pick up the supplies at the agency, according to Balinton. Volunteers help bag and distribute the items to the members.
Balinton attributes the increase in student-athlete volunteers to the shelter-in-place mandates. He said college students had more time to witness and reflect on the mandate’s drastic impact on their local community.
“The pandemic made the [world stand still],” Balinton said. “Social media and the news were sharing what has been going on [in the community] and people had no choice but to pay attention.”
Caleb Simmons, a kinesiology junior and men’s basketball point guard, is one of the athletes who volunteers at the agency.
Simmons said over the phone that he volunteers 10 to 15 hours a week as part of COVID-19 Black, a team of SJSU students and Santa Clara University students who hand out information on the virus and protective equipment, like masks, to Black community members.
The Santa Clara County Health Department partnered with the community service agency in September to create the team and provide on-the-ground outreach to underserved communities.
Simmons said balancing volunteer hours at the agency with basketball practice and school work can be difficult, but he feels it will all be worth it in the end.
“For me, [helping the community] is the first thing on my heart,” Simmons said. “I do have long days, but they’re really fulfilled for me at the end of the day. This is what matters.”
Christian Webb, a communications graduate student and linebacker for the football team, is also a volunteer for COVID-19 Black.
Webb, who has been volunteering at the agency since 2018 and served as an executive assistant intern from March to August, encouraged other student-athletes to take time out of their schedule and volunteer at the agency as well.
“When I had the opportunity to tell people at the agency and share information about it, I did,” Webb said. “When athletes engage [in our community] . . . it gives people that extra boost of confidence to know that they can go out and make a change too.”
Although SJSU student-athletes usually volunteer on their own time, Balinton said he sees entire teams, like women’s golf, go out of their way and contribute to the AACSA Cares program.
Dana Dormann, SJSU women’s golf head coach, said over the phone that she discovered the agency after seeing that it was the main benefactor for the Race for Change event. SJSU student-athletes participated in this event by running a 5K on South Campus on Oct. 18 to raise money for the agency, according to an
Oct. 21 Spartan Daily article.
She said the entire women’s golf team went to volunteer for the AACSA Cares program for the first time on Oct. 16, and the players enjoyed giving back to the San Jose community and hope to volunteer at future events.
“[The team] felt good about giving back and about the people we did it with,” Dormann said. “If you look at the big picture of what [student-athletes] are trying to do at the university, it’s to better our community.”
