BY JESSICA PALL &
MINDY PIERCE
Lions’ Pride Sports Editors

Courtesy of Liz Casey

Group hard at work.

Imagine if you could give a dying wish to a child who had a death threatening illness. What would you do to help make that true? “Give Kids The World Village” is a foundation home stationed in Kissimmee, FL that grants children their life’s last wish.

On January 17th, nearly 40 student athletes from Saint Leo University traveled to Kissimmee, Florida to give a day of community service towards the “Give Kids The World Village” foundation. The day of service was put on by the Sunshine State Conference (SCC) Experience and Leadership Ignites Teamwork and Excellence (E.L.I.T.E.), where approximately 100 student-athletes from participating schools were in attendance. This is the first year Saint Leo athletes have volunteered, although the SCC has been involved for three years.

While Saint Leo student-athletes did not work directly with the kids, they helped by fertilizing the 70 acre facility and filling the walkway with sand called “Avenue of Dreams.”

“I did not know anything about the village until we got there…my experience at Give Kids the World has inspired me, even though we did not really interact with the families on site”, senior Erin Lucas from the swim team commented.

Lucas said that as they were fertilizing the grounds, she and the other athletes were able to learn more about this resort. Most of the families that come have never had a vacation. After being picked up from the airport and brought to the village, they are given tickets to Disney, Universal Studios, and Sea World. Particularly, this village caters to the needs of children with life-threatening illnesses, which allow the families to be stress free and able to experience something they will never forget.

Courtesy of Erin Lucas

Group shot at the village.

Student-Athletes that gave a day of service to “Give Kids The World Village” from Saint Leo are:
Mike DelBuono – Lacrosse, Josue Vazquez - M Basketball, Scott Stefanef - M Soccer, Sarah Boyd – Softball, Ana Castillo – Softball, Jessica Figueredo – Softball, Garris – Softball, Dianne Gonzalez – Softball, Katie Gwinn – Softball, Tiffinee Harvey – Softball, Kristen Kelly – Softball, Kathrine Lamb – Softball, Amber Martyn – Softball, Danielle Moreda – Softball, Tiffany Munz – Softball, Jaime Walker – Softball, Ashton Whidden – Softball, Brittany Yates – Softball, Danielle Bletso – Volleyball, Emily Calderon-Reyes – Volleyball, Erica Davis – Volleyball, Lucy Fricker – Volleyball, Kaitlin McKenna – Volleyball, Kim Nuckols – Volleyball, Leah Perry – Volleyball, Corey Ryan – Volleyball, Jaime Seda – Volleyball, DeErika Brown - W Basketball, Elise Clyburn - W Basketball, Brianna Lollis - W Basketball, Chanele Patton - W Basketball, Melissa Schmidt - W Basketball, Alyssa Viscomi - W Basketball, Goeun Lee - W Golf, Courtney Kassab - W Soccer, Elizabeth Casey - W Swimming, Erin Lucas - W Swimming.

There are many different ways for Saint Leo students and faculty to continue helping Give Kids the World. Visit their website www.gktw.org or call 1-800-995-KIDS to learn how to take part with your time, talents, or resources.