BU Volleyball Reaches Out to the Community

Gainesville, GA - This past Sunday, the Brenau University Volleyball Team volunteered to join efforts with Challenged Child & Friends for their annual "5k race and one mile fun run walk". Challenged Child & Friends is an organization that provides high quality educational, therapeutic, nursing, and family support services to children with disabilities. Their services are rendered to children with diagnoses ranging from attention deficit disorder to spina bifida or Down syndrome.

With a record number of participants, totaling more than 600, it was important to the organization to ensure that each runner had a memorable experience. The volleyball team was asked to get the runners and spectators excited about the event, as well as, facilitate all tasks pertaining to the finish line. All the players amped up the crowd by having them join the DJ on the dance floor, participating in jazzercise, and playing games that people of all ages could enjoy. Once the race began, various members of the team were responsible for timing the runners, while others assisted with getting all the required information recorded.

When asked about this event, Ashley Valentine, a freshman player, stated "this was the fifth time participating in the Challenged Child race, but my first time working for them. It was an awesome blessing to work alongside my teammates, while volunteering for such a deserving cause. We only spent several hours of our lives giving our time and energy, but what we took away from this was an experience of a lifetime. One smile from a child at Challenged Child makes every moment worth it! I hope that we are fortunate enough to participate in this event every year."