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SALISBURY, MD---ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ students, faculty, and staff are preparing for the holidays with projects that benefit the whole community and beyond. This year’s efforts include:

• TOYS FOR TOTS: The Athletics and Campus Recreation Departments, teams, and student-athletes are collecting toys for children in need through Toys for Tots. In addition, a portion of the registration fees for the Campus Recreation Department’s annual Holiday Hustle 5K, held Friday, December 12 includes donation to the effort. The Intramural Sports Office is collecting toys as part of its registration for flag football and futsal, as well, while the annual Teddy Bear Toss takes place Wednesday, December 3, during the men’s and women’s varsity basketball doubleheader in Maggs Physical Activities Center. In lieu of admission charges, fans can bring a new teddy bear for donation. At halftime of each game, the fans will throw their bears on the court, with a chance to land theirs in a bucket at midcourt for a prize. 
• ULMAN FOUNDATION: The SU swimming teams collected donations at a fall meet, and from across campus, to sponsor a family through the Ulman Foundation, a Maryland-based nonprofit that supports young adults battling cancer. The team raised funds to help provide holiday presents and other essentials for the family of a 43-year-old father of three – ages 8, 12, and 17 – who is fighting leukemia. The Ulman Foundation operates a home in Baltimore that provides free housing and community support for patients receiving treatment at Johns Hopkins and nearby hospitals.
• BE A SANTA TO A SENIOR: SU volunteers provide gifts to local seniors who may be financially challenged, in a health care facility, or alone for the holidays, as part of Home Instead’s annual “Be a Santa to a Senior” initiative. SU community members are able to get the name and “wish list” for a local senior, and are able to make their holiday season a little brighter. Last year, Home Instead was able to share more than 900 gifts.
• CHILDREN’S CHOICE: For some 20 years, students, faculty, and staff in SU’s Social Work Department have collected gifts for local children in foster care through Children’s Choice for the holidays.
• LIFE CRISIS CENTER: For the second year, the ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ Women’s Forum partnered with social work students to gather feminine hygiene products for the women at the Life Crisis Center. When the first donation was made in 2024, it helped reload a dwindling supply for the organization to continue helping its population in a dignified and private way.
• CROSSROADS: Students in Alpha Phi Omega, SU’s chapter of the national co-educational service fraternity, collected home goods for Crossroads Community Behavioral Health Recovery. As Crossroads 
• CHESAPEAKE HOUSING MISSION: Working with Chesapeake Housing Mission, SU volunteers help build wheelchair ramps for homes in the area. SU completes around 10 builds per year and this fall participated in its 100th ramp build since 2014. SU groups which have participated this year include Campus Housing and Residence Life, Staff Senate, Human Resources, the Athletics leadership team, Powerful Connections, SU retired staff, the men’s soccer team, and the SU student chapter of the United Way.
• HOPE AND LIFE OUTREACH: SU student-athletes volunteer their time helping to feed those less fortunate at the Hope and Life Outreach (HALO) Café throughout the year. This includes the SU baseball and football teams, which participates weekly, as well as other student-athletes.
• COAT DRIVE FOR LOCALS: Honor societies Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Alpha sponsored a coat drive, collecting new and gently used coats for men, women and children to be donated to local community members in need.
• COMMUNITY SERVICE CHAMPIONS: For the second year in a row, SU student-athletes were named community service champions, with the most community service hours logged of any NCAA Division III institution. Nearly 700 SU student-athletes served 9,468 hours during the academic year, assisting 15 local organizations with an estimated economic impact of nearly $330,000.
• I LOVE SALISBURY: A dozen county and municipal sites, as well as local non-profits, benefitted from this year’s “I Love ÌÇÐÄÊÓƵ” student engagement event, hosted by SU’s Student Government Association. Volunteers performed tasks ranging from raking leaves at local parks to making no-sew blankets for care packages.

Learn more about SU and opportunities to Make Tomorrow Yours at www.salisbury.edu.