CLEVELAND — The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and the Fiesta Bowl have selected the three finalists for the 2019 Community Service Award. The announcement was made at the 54^th Annual NACDA Convention in Orlando, Florida.
 
The Community Service Award will be presented in the fall, at an on-campus event hosted by the winning institution. The award recognizes NACDA member institutions in Division I and honors exceptional athletics departments that make volunteerism and community service a way of life. A five-person committee consisting of athletics directors across the country and representatives from the Fiesta Bowl and NACDA will help choose this year's award winner.
 
The finalists for the Community Service Award are:

• Boston College
• East Carolina University
• University of Texas at Arlington

The winning institution, to be announced later this summer, will receive a trophy for permanent display and $10,000 for its chosen charity. The two runners-up will be awarded a trophy and $5,000 each for their respective chosen charities.
 
"Every year, more universities submit their community service work, as their student-athletes make a deeper impact within their communities," said Fiesta Bowl Executive Director Mike Nealy. "The Fiesta Bowl is built around a year-round commitment to organizations that support youth, sports and education, and improve the lives of those within their communities. We're honored to partner with NACDA and recognize institutions that excel off the field as well as on it."
 
"Servant leadership is important to us as athletics administrators, but it is equally important to the student-athletes we serve," said NACDA Chief Executive Officer Bob Vecchione. "Through the Community Service Award, NACDA and the Fiesta Bowl have highlighted the service and dedication of student-athletes on campuses across the country and the value these projects hold for the institutions themselves, as well as those in need. It is comforting to see that the future of intercollegiate athletics is in great hands with the next generation of servant leaders."
 
Below are descriptions of the three initiatives that earned these institutions recognition as finalists for the Community Service Award.
 
Boston College
The Boston College (BC) athletics department seeks to serve as many communities as possible. Its primary outreach extends to the greater Boston area where the Eagles engage in several large-scale community service initiatives. The Adopt-A-Child program connects BC student-athletes with 167 underprivileged children from neighboring communities. For over 35 years, the Adopt-A-Child Holiday Party has been the athletics' department signature community event. Each team is responsible for fundraising and purchasing the gifts for the children they adopt. All 31 of BC's varsity teams, as well as many coaches and athletics staff, adopted at least one child. While most of BC athletics' community service takes place on campus and in Boston, its annual service trip enables student-athletes to extend their reach beyond Massachusetts. Boston College has over 750 student-athletes. As a department, the Eagles completed over 4,500 community service hours at the end of the 2018-19 school year.
 
East Carolina University
In September 2018, East Carolina University (ECU) was devastated by Hurricane Florence, which caused an estimate of 54 billion dollars worth of damage to the area. This storm took close to four days to cross eastern North Carolina, making it the wettest tropical storm to hit North Carolina. There were 5,214 people and 1,067 animals that were rescued and evacuated during the storm. ECU athletics began their first clean-up efforts on September 18 and completed their last clean-up efforts on October 9. ECU student-athletes took on an all hands-on deck approach when it came to clean-up efforts. During the athletics department's restoration efforts, ECU student-athletes could be found participating in complete home demolitions, passing out clothes and serving dinner to those affected, packing and unloading supplies to assist the Red Cross distribution center, volunteering at ECU's Hurricane Relief Effort Center, contributing to ECU Athletics' Food Drive and spending time walking dogs and cleaning animal cages at the Humane Society of Eastern North Carolina.
 
University of Texas at Arlington
Student-athletes at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) wanted to do something different this year when it came to the geographical location of community service. They wanted to stretch their boundaries and reach out to new locations, focusing on serving "people that were suffering" overseas, as well as in the Dallas & Fort Worth (DFW) area. The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) came up with an idea of sending out teams of student-athletes to different countries in the world to make an impact wherever they were serving. They named it "Operation Global Impact." SAAC formed teams of student-athletes to pick where they wanted to go and what they wanted to do at that location. They picked five locations outside of the DFW area to send teams to serve: Uganda, Honduras, Ethiopia, South Africa and Alaska (to serve the Native Americans). Additional community service events hosted by UTA student-athletes over the 2018-19 academic year included: "Super Drive," "Beat Cancer," "Special Olympics Sports Camp" and "Mav-Move-In."
 
About the Fiesta Bowl: The Fiesta Bowl's vision is to be a world-class community organization that executes innovative experiences, drives economic growth and champions charitable causes, inspiring pride in all Arizonans. As a nonprofit organization, it believes in the importance of community outreach and service. Through charitable giving, the organization strives to enhance Arizona nonprofit organizations that contribute to the success of communities through youth, sports and education. Since 1971, the Fiesta Bowl has worked to increase its footprint across the state and work to benefit Arizonans year-round, during and outside of bowl season. For more information about its local impact and how to get involved, visit FiestaBowl.org.
 
About NACDA: NACDA, now in its 54^th year, is the professional and educational Association for more than 15,700 college athletics administrators at more than 1,700 institutions throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. More than 6,500 athletics administrators annually attend NACDA & Affiliates Convention Week. Additionally, NACDA manages 17 professional associations and three foundations. For more information on NACDA, visit www.nacda.com.