NSCU Athletes visit Tammy Lynn Center

This Halloween, 13 NC State University student athletes and many of the staff members from the Academic Support Program for Student Athletes donated a children's book library to the Tammy Lynn Center for Developmental Disabilities.

NCSU Athletes and Tammy Lynn
preschoolers love the Pack!

The student-athletes participated in a trick-or-treat event, walking with the residents from classroom to classroom and assisting them in filling their bags with Halloween treats. Some student-athletes wheeled residents from room to room and everyone had a wonderful time. Afterwards, the student-athletes selected books from the eight large boxes they donated to the facility and read to the Tammy Lynn students.

Wolfpack football player Willie Young captivated his audience with a rousing rendition of It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles Shaw. After reading, Willie said: "I really felt privileged to come out and participate in this Halloween event. It was fun reading to the kids because they were so interactive. For me personally, I love to work with kids. If there is any way for me to contribute back to the community, being a leader or stand up as a role model, then I want to do it... It was exciting to see their reactions and I was impressed to hear some of the things they said. I think my smile threw them off a little bit. They were expecting me to be big and mean, and there I was sitting and smiling with them. I seemed to have caught them off guard a little bit."

Football player Willie Young reads
to a group of pre-schoolers

Erika Alpeter, track and field: "I have a lot of respect for the people who work here. Just during the little time we were here, there were kids who were crying and had to be fed and changed. It was kind of overwhelming, but they took care of everything right away. I wish I was half as awesome as all the people who work here."

 Audi Augustin, football: "What more can you ask for, spending time with kids on Halloween? Myself, I didn't enjoy Halloween very much. I was a little bit of a scaredy cat. So being able to put a smile on their face, and let them be kids for a day, was great to be a part of. It's important for anybody to come to a center like this, to interact with the kids and get to know them. It puts things in perspective in different ways."

Melanie Yelardy, track and field: "Today was a very humbling experience. As college students, we think we are so stressed about this and that. To see the joy they got out of some simple things like getting candy and listening to us read them books, was just very humbling. I got a lot out of it."

Today provided an opportunity for many of NC State's gifted athletes to share their time and compassion with people who may never be able to play on a team or attend college.

The joy on the faces of the people at The Tammy Lynn Center showed how truly thrilled they were for these student athletes to visit and celebrate Halloween with them.

Football players Willie Young and Audi Augustin pose with pre-schooler Deuce, aka "Young Harry Potter."

 The feeling was clearly mutual. All of the student-athletes had a wonderful time and several plan to go back to the Tammy Lynn Center to volunteer on a regular basis.

Courtesy: Tim Peeler
http://www.gopack.com/