June 7, 2010

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Over 100 Western Washington University student-athletes worked alongside supervisors from the Bellingham Parks and Recreation Department on Saturday, June 5, to prepare an area just off Fairhaven Parkway for a salmon habitat.

The volunteer project was the brainchild of Western's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which organized the community service work party. The idea was developed from student-athlete focus groups and SAAC meetings.

"It was an opportunity to show that we do more than play sports," said SAAC President Rory Blanche, a sophomore on the men's basketball team. "It got us out to be seen by other people doing something for the betterment of the whole community, not just Western."

The student-athlete work party was removing invasive species of plants and mulching the area. The city provided all the gloves and tools as well as coordinators to direct the volunteers.