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Georgia Southern Student-Athletes assist FTB in Feeding Thousands

Georgia Southern student-athletes and staff, along with Feed the Boro (FTB) volunteers, distributed food to families in need Saturday, January 15, 2022.
GS-Athletes-FTB
Credit: Grice Connect

Georgia Southern student-athletes and staff, along with Feed the Boro (FTB) volunteers, distributed food to families in need Saturday, January 15, 2022.

Georgia Southern Student Athletes
Clay Helton, GS Head Football Coach thanking athletes for their help

The Georgia Southern Department of Athletics and Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) partnered with Feed the Boro to host a Food Drive as an APEX Community Impact Project.

On a very cold Saturday morning, nearly 100 student-athletes, coaches, staff and their families came together to distribute two tractor trailer loads of food to 1,000 families. The nearly 50 pounds of food per family will be enough to feed a family of four for a week.

GS Cheerleaders helping distribute food

In addition to distributing the food, they raised the funds to help cover the cost of this month's FTB food drop.

"We pride ourselves on community service and helping those in need," said Gleen Hart, Senior Associate Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Development. "It is my belief that we can greatly impact this community by giving back and continuing to support our athletic department and the APEX Program mission to be servant leaders."

Georgia Southern Student Athletes
Nearly 100 student-athletes, coaches, staff and their families helped with the food distribution

About APEX

The APEX program was introduced to Georgia Southern Athletics by Jared Benko, GS Director of Athletics. Benko, who along with his wife and children helped distribute the food, sees this program as one more important way that GS can step up and invest in their student-athletes long term success.

APEX is the acronym for Athletes Preparing for Employment Experiences.

The APEX program consists of a commitment to the holistic growth of all Georgia Southern Student-Athletes based on four pillars: life skills, leadership development, career growth and community engagement.

"We are very excited about the APEX program and the impact that it will have on our student-athletes' lives by providing them with valuable skills necessary to succeed in life after athletics," said senior associate athletics director Gleen Hart. "It is the mission of the program to create leaders in the classroom, on the fields, and in life by providing programming to help enhance their student athlete experience and professional development."

Not only did the athletes help a huge number of families, they also inspired other FTB volunteers.

Free Books

Citizens in line for food received another special treat from the Bulloch County Schools Book Bus. Crystal Simpkins, Bulloch Schools Director of Early Learning and Literacy Program Improvement along with volunteers from the Bulloch Literacy Council provided a bag of free books to each family.

February 5, 2022 Next Food Drop

Feed the Boro will host the next food drop on February 5, 2022 at Statesboro High School. Vist Feed the Boro's website to learn more about the Food Drops, how to volunteer and support this effort financially.