Duke Lacrosse Update - Duke University Athletics

COMMUNITY SERVICE
The 2010-2011 Duke men’s lacrosse team generously donated 400+ hours of its time to
the greater Durham community. The Durham Ronald McDonald House again received
the majority of its efforts, enjoying home cooked meals and conversation with the players
on a regular basis during the fall semester. The Durham Bulls Haunted House and Duke
Children’s Hospital Radiothon are now regular staples in the community service calendar
for the men’s lacrosse team. Both events bring a lot of smiles and laughter to both
participants and teammates. Highlighting this year’s effort was the Project Homeless
Connect event. This event served as a one-stop shop aimed to fulfill the needs of
homeless families. Many county agencies and services were onsite and provided food
stamps, social security, Medicaid, unemployment benefits, employment, health and
vision screenings, haircuts and other services. The team also enjoyed spending time with
youth baseball players at the Miracle League of the Triangle games.
The 2009 – 2010 season brought another opportunity for the Blue Devils to reach out to
the greater Durham community. Once again, the majority of the team’s 400+ hours was
spent with families in need at the Ronald McDonald House. Players spent countless hours
preparing meals, visiting with families and sick children, and assisting in fundraisers for
the local Durham house. The annual Durham Bulls Haunted House and Duke Children’s
Hospital Radiothon also benefited from the Blue Devils outreach. The players continued
to expand the game of lacrosse through the local youth by reaching out to the Durham
Eagles Football program. On a rainy day in September, approximately 65 elementary to
middle school aged football players attended a free clinic at Duke. The boys enjoyed an
instruction led by 5 th -year senior Devon Sherwood. Other Duke players provided
individualized instruction on lacrosse basics before bringing the group to a BBQ lunch
and the Duke vs. North Carolina Central football game.