Miami Athletics Finishes Second Nationally in NCAA Community Service Challenge
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami Athletics finished second nationally in the 2023 NCAA Community Service Challenge.
Miami had 100 percent of its student-athletes participate in at least one community service activity. The department totaled 4,439 community service hours over the three-month competition, resulting in an economic impact of $141,190.
The University of North Dakota took first-place honors. Miami previously captured the NCAA Community Service Challenge in 2018 and 2022.
“I want to congratulate our student-athletes for placing second in the NCAA Community Service Challenge,” Vice President/Director of Athletics Dan Radakovich said. “Our student-athlete development staff cultivates a culture of service at Miami, which our student-athletes have taken to heart.”
The NCAA and Helper Helper, a volunteer management and tracking platform, launched the community service competition to recognize student-athletes and schools who give back to their communities. This was the 11th year of the competition, which ran September 15 through December 15, 2023, and is based on the number of service hours completed and the number of participating student-athletes. Helper Helper tracks the school participation data throughout the competition.
Miami’s community service efforts during the 2023 Challenge included its Pen Pal program matching 122 student-athletes with students at local elementary schools; a Day of Giving when the football team delivered Thanksgiving meals to the Miami-Dade Foster and Adoptive Parent Association; the Dream on 3 Team; and a food drive competition versus Florida State benefiting Feeding South Florida.
“I am extremely proud of our student-athletes and their commitment to our community,” said Jessica Hurley, Assistant Director of Student-Athlete Development. “They have helped us create a culture of giving that has become a point of passion and purpose for the Miami Hurricanes.”
For schools that opted into the challenge, their total amount of service hours was 203,514 hours with an estimated economic impact of more than $6.4 million, based on the calculation by the organization Independent Sector of the national value of a volunteer hour.
