Millersville, Pa. — It has been a busy winter for the ladies of the Millersville University softball team. Back in mid-December they assisted —for a second straight year— in putting on the Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis in the city of Lancaster. In the past two weeks the team held a comedy night fundraiser and donated its time to the House of Hope in York.
With the Jingle Bell Run/Walk being such a successful experience a year ago, coach
Kathy Cummings players decided to be a part of the event again this year. The run/walk, which took place on Sunday, Dec. 13, raised over $54,000 in the fight to cure arthritis. The players had varied responsibilities which included registration assistance, handing out drinks and snacks, and monitoring/securing the race route.
Tom 'The Coach' Whitely performed at MU Softball's comedy night.
New for this year, Millersville softball held its inaugural comedy night fundraiser on Thursday, Jan. 28. Three professional comedians from Comedy Blast, Inc., were brought in to headline the event, which was attended by about 150 students, coaches, staff/faculty, and members of the community. Steve Bix, owner of the Whitehall-based group, kicked off the show and emceed the event. His stand-up team for the night also consisted of Stan Stankos and Tom 'The Coach' Whitely, each of whom provided many laughs for the crowd. Whitely's nickname is apropos because he was an actual head football coach at Eastside High School, which was featured in the movie
'Lean on Me'.
Last weekend the team lent its time to the House of Hope. The Marauders split into two groups, with one group helping out on Saturday and the other on Sunday. They worked hand-in-hand with Christina, one of the House of Hope teens. Their volunteer efforts were centered around peanut butter, of all things, as they helped the House of Hope create its Easter peanut butter eggs. The group on Saturday aided in making the filling for the eggs, while the Sunday group's efforts centered around rolling the filling into egg shapes. Following the processes done by the MU softball team, the eggs will be covered in chocolate. This was the first time that Millersville has worked with the House of Hope. Located in York, Pa., the house offers a "home for healing teens."
The volunteer efforts of the team this past weekend will be rewarded. By donating their time and service, each of the Marauder players will be eligible to receive free entry into one of Disney's parks via the
"Give a Day. Get a Disney Day." program. The team will travel to one of the parks on its off day during its upcoming spring break trip to Clermont, Florida. There, the Marauders will play 12 games in six days to kick-off the 2010 season.
"The entire team was touched and inspired by the mission of the House of Hope," said Cummings, who will assist in the pre-sale ordering of the peanut butter eggs her team helped create. Those interested in purchasing peanut butter eggs can contact Cummings directly by e-mail at
kcummings@millersville.edu.
Millersville softball is looking to improve on last season's 24-25 overall record. The team began its official spring practice last Monday and opens the season a month from Saturday with games against American International and Bloomsburg in Florida.
