Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Notre Dame Swimmers Get Out of the Pool to Make a Difference!

Saturday, October 10, 2009 - 9:15 AM

What do you do when you are a college student, given the weekend off by your coach, no home football game to attend and its the forecast for South Bend, Indiana is cold, overcast and a chance of rain? A) Sleep in B) Head out of town with your friends to Chicago C) Go home to visit parents D) Wake up early to go build into the lives of 50 inner city kids.

If you are 15 guys from the University of Notre Dame Men's Diving Team you drag yourselves out of your warm bed, head downtown to the Monroe Circle Community Center and go "all in" when asked to befriend 50 inner city grade school kids during SonCity Kids/2nd Saturday. When most volunteers show up for the first time they typically step back and observe. Not these 15 keys - they jumped right in. They played board games, they painted tier own and the kids' faces, they kicked a soccer ball around the Cove parking lot, they shared their donuts with the kids so that the kids would have a little bit extra, they walked the kids back home at the end of the day.

They made a difference in the lives of these kids. They gave them hope for a better tomorrow. they allowed the kids to dream what their lives might be like. These guys brought God's Kingdom from Up There to Down Here.

You could see it in the faces of the kids from Monroe Circle. They wanted to be just like these guys when they grow up. Truth be told - so do I!

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