Southern Miss Repeats as Conference USA Community Service Award Winner

For the second year in a row, University of Southern Mississippi student-athletes earned the Conference USA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Cup for its efforts in the league's Changing Lives Program, an initiative to unite conference institutions through community service.

Working in conjunction with the Southern Miss Office of Community Service Learning (OCSL), the university's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) hosted a series of canned goods collections last fall for its “Join the Huddle to Fight Hunger” campaign. Their efforts netted 7,343 pounds of the league's overall collection of 40,100 pounds of food.

Southern Miss Athletics Director Richard Giannini will accept the award on behalf of the university later this spring. Local Hattiesburg charitable organizations Christian Services and Edwards Street Fellowship Center benefited directly from Southern Miss' participation in the initiative.

Lauren Hillman, academic counselor and life skills coordinator for the Southern Miss Student Academic Enhancement Program, thanked Southern Miss fans, university employees and students and members of the community for their support of the students' effort. Hillman advised and worked with the students in their collection efforts.

“There are so many things that we can all learn from giving back, and I always enjoy seeing our student-athletes jump at the chance to get involved in community service,” Hillman said.