Giving Back With Terpsgiving

Terpsgiving was once again a successful effort as Maryland’s student-athletes worked hard to give back to the local community. 

Facilitated through Maryland Made, student-athletes, coaches and athletic staff participated in Terpsgiving to fight food insecurity in College Park. They held a food drive from Sept. 30 to Oct. 30 and collected non-perishable food donations in designated campus locations, including Gossett Hall, Jones-Hill House, Varsity Team House, and XFINITY Center.

“I am thrilled with the outcome of this year’s Terpsgiving drive,” Danielle Dyer, Maryland Athletics Community Engagement Intern, said. “What has been most impressive is the incredible ownership shown by our Directors of Share the Shell, Sammi and Tasha. They have truly led the way, driving student-athlete engagement through multiple reminder messages to SAAC members, creating a donation tracker to monitor our can count, suggesting a friendly competition to award the team with the most donations and organizing the transportation of donations from various locations to Gossett.” 

This year, Terpsgiving was integrated into the university’s annual Good Neighbor Day, on which the university, the City of College Park and local organizations come together to volunteer and give to those in need. 

By aligning Terpsgiving with Good Neighbor Day, the athletics department enhanced its visibility and involvement within the College Park community while supporting a broader university-wide effort to address local needs. Moving Terpsgiving up by one month, ahead of the Adopt-A-Family, allowed more time to gather donations and reduced stress on staff and student-athletes during the busy holiday season.

Tasha Brozowski and Sammi Woods, two Share The Shell Liassions for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Executive Board, set up a table on campus to encourage final donations and promote the event. The Office of Community Engagement (OCE) assisted with logistics using OCE-provided boxes and a cargo van, including donation pickup and transportation.

“Good Neighbor Day is when the College Park community and the University of Maryland kind of pair up and do little events and volunteer things throughout the community to better the community and work with the individuals around and in it,” said Brozowski, a senior gymnastics student-athlete. 

Sammi Woods, a junior softball student-athlete, shared the importance of giving back through community service.    

“I think it’s really important to emphasize supporting and helping our local communities, especially when we have these great resources as student-athletes coming from so many different states,” Woods said.

This year, the food drive collected over 1,661 non-perishable food donations, surpassing last year’s total by 668. These donations were distributed between the Campus Kitchen and the College Park Food Bank or St. Mark’s Parish Church.

According to the student-athletes, this year’s Terpsgiving goal was 1,000 donations. The department was very proud of its ability to exceed expectations.

“Being able to surpass our goal of 1,000 kind of showed how when we come together, we can really help ourselves reach a certain goal we have in mind,” Brozowski said. 

Community service events are something that has become incredibly important to Brozowski and Woods. 

“As student-athletes, we get free food all the time, like we don’t have to worry about certain needs to be met because we have that right in front of us,” Brozowski said. “The chance to use our platforms and give back is really important, especially when we have so much already provided for us.”

Participating in events such as Terpsgiving allowed the student-athletes to feel they were positively impacting the community that supported them.

“I participate in Terpsgiving because just gathering all of those cans gives me the greatest sense of fulfillment and appreciation,” Woods said. “It made me feel like I was making a difference in some people’s lives.”