Twin Bears Cleanup Photo Gallery
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska women's basketball team spent last week giving back to the community with different clean-up projects in the area.
“We really find value in being able to put ourselves out there more so than being just athletes and students,” head coach
Cody Burgess said. “It was nice to see them work hard, break a sweat other than just running on the basketball court and was a good opportunity to give back. I think it helps them keep perspective in life which is what this is really all about.”
While the festivities of Springfest were going on across campus on Friday, the Nanooks spent four hours over at the
Georgeson Botanical Garden cleaning up the area and assisting with the beautification of the garden.
“It was a great experience because now they're taking part in keeping the campus nice and clean,” Burgess said. “That was something the team took pride in the fact they're helping give back to the university that gives them so much.”
They followed that up Saturday with an all-day effort to help clean up the grounds at
Twin Bears Camp, which is located about 35 miles outside of Fairbanks. Working in conjunction with the Fairbanks Rescue Mission, members of the team raked and bagged leaves and picked up trash to get the area ready for incoming campers this summer.
“It's cool to put effort into something like this and see the result in the same day,” junior
Jacqueline Lovato said. “When we came, it was a mess and we left it looked a lot better. If we can do something like that and have team bonding time, that's pretty valuable.”
“I think this says a lot about our team,” junior
Marissa Atoruk said. “We're not just here to get an education and play basketball but we're also here to help out in the community and show that we can manage our time with other things rather than basketball an homework.”
The team rounded out the day with a barbecue. In addition, the Nanooks donated a large box of clothing to the FRM earlier in the week.
