BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — LSU pitcher Clay Dirks was named Monday to the SEC Baseball Good Works team by the league office. The Baseball Good Works Team is comprised of 12 SEC student-athletes, one from each competing institution.
The Good Works Team seeks to honor student-athletes from each school who give back to their community in superior service efforts. Following are summaries of the philanthropic efforts of the 2006 SEC Baseball Good Works Team members:
Clay Dirks, LSU
Dirks, a junior from Hernando, Miss, volunteered with “Clippin’ for Katrina,” a fund-raising project to aid hurricane victims in which student-athletes had their heads shaved to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. Dirks is actively involved in LSU’s CHAMPS community service programs which include reading and speaking to elementary school children. He also visits hospitals and has conducted food drives at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Dirks has also participated in the Christmas Toy Drive and Halloween “Boo-zar,” an event where student-athletes provide a safe trick-or-treating environment for local children.
Emeel Salem, Alabama
Salem, a junior from Mountain, Brook, Ala.,enjoys public speaking and has developed his own model for success that he shares with children. His 30-minute program talks about dedication, hard work and belief in yourself. His community service efforts have helped the Alabama baseball win the Athletic Department’s Community Service Award (2005 and 2006) each of the last two years. Salem spent time as a volunteer at DCH Regional Medical Center in the pediatric ward (Fall, 2005 and Spring, 2006), spoke to students at Brookwood Elementary School on drug awareness, and spoke at Tuscaloosa Middle School as well as Holt Elementary School’s end-of-year awards banquet. In October of 2005, Salem passed out candy and judged costume contests at the Athletic Department’s annual Halloween Carnival. He also read books to children at Oakdale Elementary School and Oak Hill School during American Education Week.
Clint Arnold, Arkansas
Sophomore outfielder Clint Arnold has been active throughout the Fayetteville community and surrounding areas since he arrived on campus. The Grand Prairie, Texas native participates in the University of Arkansas Book Hogs Program that encourages reading throughout local schools. Arnold and other members of the Razorback baseball team collected donations for the Angel Tree program during the Christmas holiday and raised money to help service several local families. Arnold is also involved in the Big Brother and Big Sisters program.
Bruce Edwards, Auburn
Edwards, a junior from Columbus, Miss., has read to students at the Auburn Early Education Center. He has taken part in the Good Character and Sportsmanship talk at Dean Road Elementary. Edwards stocked shelves and weighed and bagged rice and flour at the East Alabama Food Bank, and was a part of the Red Cross Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in collecting donations.
Darren O’Day, Florida
O’Day, a senior from Jacksonville, Fla., mentored a local 11-year-old boy twice weekly. He visits with children in the pediatric ward at Shands Hospital, is a member of Goodwill Gators, a student-athlete organization on campus, and helped with Habitat for Humanity. O’Day has participated in after-school games with children for several years. He has worked with Special Olympics and has participated at the St. Francis Soup Kitchen. The Animal Biology major worked with an equine veterinarian once a week, and shadowed facial and cosmetic/ reconstructive plastic surgeons several times per month.
Adam McDaniel, Georgia
McDaniel, a Powder Springs, Ga. native, was a Katrina Relief Effort Volunteer. The junior finance major has served Thanksgiving dinners for Barrow Elementary School, volunteered for Operation Christmas, Adopt-a-Family for Christmas, UGA Baseball Clinics, Calvary Children’s Home, youth basketball coach, and tutored for Learning Disabled Students at Tapp Middle School. McDaniel is a member of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (2003-present), Vice President for Student Affairs, two-time recipient of baseball team’s Scholar Athlete Award, two-time member of SEC Academic Honor Roll and has made the Dean’s List and Director’s Honor Roll for four semesters.
Billy Grace, Kentucky
Grace serves as Kentucky’s representative to UK’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which organizes numerous events in the community. This year, those events included a food drive for Hurricane Katrina victims at football games in the fall as well as a stocking stuffer at Christmas time for under-privileged children. Grace also participated in the Kentucky baseball team’s season-long program of reading to elementary school children each week.
Tommy Baumgardner, Ole Miss
Baumgardner, a Lakeland, Fla. native, is a Bats & Balls baseball clinic volunteer for underprivileged children. He visits the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, is a SAAC Representative, and participates in Reading with the Rebels. The junior criminal justice major, also volunteered in Pass the Bucket 2005 to raise funds for Katrina Relief and has volunteered in the Oxford Food Pantry canned food drive.
Justin Pigott, Mississippi State
Pigott, a sophomore from Picayune, Miss., participated in the Bully’s Book Blitz program, a MSU M-Club-sponsored campaign designed to encourage reading in the Starkville elementary schools. He assisted with the annual Halloween Youth Carnival on campus, visited with students at Overstreet Elementary School to promote the importance of education, and particpated in a Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) mission trip to the hurricane-ravaged Mississippi Gulf Coast. Pigott was the featured speaker at a FCA rally at New Hope (Miss.) High School and he also spoke at the statewide FCA rally held at Mississippi State.
Ian Paxton, South Carolina
Paxton, a senior from Pensacola, Fla., is a Harvest Hope and Share Your Holiday participant. Paxton is a Retailing major and made the Dean’s List in the fall of 2004. He is a 2005 SEC spring Honor Roll member, and serves as captain on the 2006 team.
J.P. Arencibia, Tennessee
Arencibia, a sophomore from Miami, Fla., provided baseball skills/drills training for local youth as part of a Knoxville Parks and Recreation Department program. He joined teammates in signing autographs to benefit Red Cross Hurricane Relief, and volunteered for Buddy’s Race Against Cancer where he and his teammates awarded medals at the finish line for cancer survivor participants. Arencibia visited with patients at UT Medical Center in November, and visited patients at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. During Thanksgiving holidays, he collected money and shopped for food to donate to the Manna House Food Pantry. He also collected money and shopped for toys and games to donate to the Mission of Hope. Arencibia dressed up as Santa Claus and visited with kids for a Holiday Dinner held for several clients of the Volunteer Ministry Center. He has been a member of the UT Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for the past two years.
Matt Buschmann, Vanderbilt
Buschmann, a senior from St. Louis, Mo., helped organize the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Christmas Party for underprivileged children every year that he attended Vanderbilt. He bought and wrapped presents for the baseball team’s 2005 party. Buschmann has made annual Halloween visits to the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital with the baseball team, and has worked with Vanderbilt Baseball Camps in the summer of 2005. He represented the baseball team as a SAAC member for the 2005-06 season. Several times during his Vanderbilt career, he participated in Kidz Zone during the football games.