EVANSVILLE, Ind.- University of Evansville student-athletes spent Wednesday spreading holiday cheer by participating in various community service projects. Participating in the events were athletes from volleyball, baseball, women’s soccer, tennis, men’s and women’s golf, and men’s and women’s cross country. A few student-athletes dressed as Purple Santa, the Gingerbread Man, Buddy the Elf and Ace Purple as they visited local elementary schools.  Below is a brief look at all the activities that took place— click here to see the complete photo gallery!

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 Holiday Just Read

The group visited St. Benedict Cathedral School, Holy Spirit Catholic School and Hebron Elementary to read Christmas stories and hand out candy canes and Ace Purple coloring pages to the children. Just Read!, a program of the Missouri Valley Conference is co-sponsored by State Farm Insurance and was developed in order to teach kids the importance of reading at and early age while utilizing MVC student-athletes as positive role models. “Holiday Just Read is my favorite event of the year. It is set at the perfect time to be able to take a break from studying and help out the community by making kids smile.” – Dani Langness, women’s soccer

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Toys-For-Tots: Shopping & Donation

Members of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), shopped for 227 toys to be donated to local children as part of Old National Bank’s annual Toys-For-Tots program. The toys were purchased with over $1,900 collected through donations from UE student-athletes as well as proceeds from SAAC’s cookbook sale. “It was a really satisfying experience getting to see all the hard work the athletic department put in to raise money selling cookbooks pay off. We raised an incredible amount of money and through that, we had the chance to buy a lot of toys and make a lot of kids happy this Christmas.” – Kelsey Costales, women’s tennis

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Salvation Army Bell Ringing

Several UE student-athletes have spent time volunteering as Salvation Army bell ringers at various Evansville locations this winter. Pictured here are women's soccer players Kaitlin Robinett, Miranda Graham and Lauren Tiernan.