Photo by: GoDucks.com
Ducks Spread Cheer With Portland's Maybelle Center
12/24/16 | O Heroes
Nearly a dozen UO student-athletes participated in a community outreach project Wednesday.
The holidays are a time to celebrate tradition, and University of Oregon student-athletes have instituted a tradition in recent years that is well worth celebrating.
Nearly a dozen Ducks spent time earlier this week meeting with and delivering gifts to vulnerable members of the greater Portland community. The outing was the second annual service trip for UO student-athletes to the Maybelle Center, named for Maybelle Clark Macdonald, who before her passing in 2009 established a foundation that supports not only the Maybelle Center but also scholarships at the university.
The Maybelle Center provides housing and emotional support for adults left isolated by poverty, mental illness, addiction or some combination of the three. Track and field athlete John Nizich, who attended Central Catholic in Portland, participated for the second straight year.
"I enjoy serving the Portland community, because I see my service directly affecting those in the community I'm from," Nizich said. "Through working with the Maybelle Center, I've learned how much a simple conversation and gesture of kindness can go. People want to interact with other people, and the Maybelle Center provides that family atmosphere to those without one."
Nizich was joined for Wednesday's visit by track and field teammates Cody Danielson, Maddie Rabing, Rennie Kendrick, Maggie Schmaedick, Kelly O'Neill, Jackson Mestler and Perrin Xthona; Cheyenne Holliday and Kaile Michaud from acrobatics and tumbling, and football player Johnny Ragin III.
Duck Athletic Fund supporter Ann Johnson and staff members Justin Fisher and Andy Sigler also participated in this year's visit.
"I had a great time volunteering with the Maybelle Center this holiday season alongside by fellow student-athletes," said Ragin, a native of Wilsonville. "The Maybelle Center aims to create a community of inclusion for those in need within the Portland area, and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of that."
The student-athletes distributed holiday gifts including apparel provided by The Duck Store, stocking hats from Nike and also bundles of toiletries during their visits. At least as valuable, if not more so, were the interactions they had with Maybelle Center members, who can feel isolated from the community at large due to their conditions.
"We are so pleased to partner again with the University of Oregon and have their student-athletes spread holiday cheer by delivering gifts to our members living in our community," Maybelle Center Executive Director Jon Ulsh said. "It really puts a smile on everyone's faces, and our members are so appreciative of the visits and gifts."
Nearly a dozen Ducks spent time earlier this week meeting with and delivering gifts to vulnerable members of the greater Portland community. The outing was the second annual service trip for UO student-athletes to the Maybelle Center, named for Maybelle Clark Macdonald, who before her passing in 2009 established a foundation that supports not only the Maybelle Center but also scholarships at the university.
The Maybelle Center provides housing and emotional support for adults left isolated by poverty, mental illness, addiction or some combination of the three. Track and field athlete John Nizich, who attended Central Catholic in Portland, participated for the second straight year.
"I enjoy serving the Portland community, because I see my service directly affecting those in the community I'm from," Nizich said. "Through working with the Maybelle Center, I've learned how much a simple conversation and gesture of kindness can go. People want to interact with other people, and the Maybelle Center provides that family atmosphere to those without one."
Nizich was joined for Wednesday's visit by track and field teammates Cody Danielson, Maddie Rabing, Rennie Kendrick, Maggie Schmaedick, Kelly O'Neill, Jackson Mestler and Perrin Xthona; Cheyenne Holliday and Kaile Michaud from acrobatics and tumbling, and football player Johnny Ragin III.
Duck Athletic Fund supporter Ann Johnson and staff members Justin Fisher and Andy Sigler also participated in this year's visit.
"I had a great time volunteering with the Maybelle Center this holiday season alongside by fellow student-athletes," said Ragin, a native of Wilsonville. "The Maybelle Center aims to create a community of inclusion for those in need within the Portland area, and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of that."
The student-athletes distributed holiday gifts including apparel provided by The Duck Store, stocking hats from Nike and also bundles of toiletries during their visits. At least as valuable, if not more so, were the interactions they had with Maybelle Center members, who can feel isolated from the community at large due to their conditions.
"We are so pleased to partner again with the University of Oregon and have their student-athletes spread holiday cheer by delivering gifts to our members living in our community," Maybelle Center Executive Director Jon Ulsh said. "It really puts a smile on everyone's faces, and our members are so appreciative of the visits and gifts."
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