BATON ROUGE — As part of the Summer Academic Success Program, 33 freshmen student-athletes from eight LSU programs participated in serving lunch to the homeless Friday at the St. Vincent de Paul’s Shelter in downtown Baton Rouge.
The athletes from football, volleyball, gymnastics, soccer, men’s and women’s basketball along with men’s and women’s track and field spent 90 minutes dishing out the food.
“This was truly an awesome experience,” gymnast Kaleigh Dickson said. “We often take so much for granted. The people we served were grateful for every bit of food they got. It made me happy that I was able to give back to the community.”
“Being able to look at this from the outside made me tear up,” defensive end Sam Montgomery said. “I appreciate where I have come from and what I’ve been through so much more now.”
The freshmen have spent the last month learning valuable life skills from research paper writing workshops, exam preparation strategies and media training sessions that will aid them during their LSU careers and beyond.