AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn freshman gymnast Adeline Sabados made Christmas brighter for a 12-year-old girl she may never meet.
"I had so much fun picking out the nail polish," Sabados said. "I can't imagine Christmas without gifts. That's not all Christmas is about, but it's a big part of it. It was so fun."
Sabados and her fellow Auburn student-athletes purchased gifts for 52 Lee County children through The Salvation Army's Angel Tree program, a service project of Auburn's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Each SAAC member selected Angel Tags containing a child's age, gender, sizes and wish list, then shared them with teammates from their respective sports. That's when the student-athletes' generosity and competitiveness kicked in, with Auburn's softball team shopping for a department-best 12 children.
"We tried to go above and beyond for each of these kids because it's all they get for Christmas so we really tried to exceed all the tags' expectations," Sabados said. "To see all the bags of gifts, it was truly incredible."
"The kids would ask for a basketball and a pair of socks," said junior volleyball player Chesney McClellan, SAAC community engagement chair. "With our athletes, we were giving away basketballs, basketball goals, basketball shoes and the whole nine yards. You could really tell they were intentional with their giving. I think that says a lot about our student-athletes."
Teaming up on such a worthwhile initiative connected student-athletes from Auburn's 21 teams.
"It's not only providing the gifts and doing the shopping," McClellan said. "It's also seeing other student-athletes doing the same things you are, and participating in the same way. That motivates each other to continue to help others and to continue to support each other."
In the same way the Tigers work together to compete for championships, they're using teamwork to improve their community as well.
"People need to know that we really do try to be greater than ourselves here, and we know that we can have a large impact if we collectively come together, the more than 500 of us," Sabados said. "We really do try in SAAC to reach out to every single person."
"Our student-athletes work just as hard outside of the courts or the field as they do on the field," McClellan said. "I've never been more proud to be a student-athlete doing this project because this was the very first time I've ever done it.
"It really goes to show that student-athletes aren't just the ones who put on the jersey and are out there competing. They do so much more outside of their competition field. They are very intentional about everything they do. I definitely saw that through this project and I could not be more proud to be a student-athlete here and to be alongside the other 550 Auburn student-athletes."
Volleyball's Chesney McClellan and cross country's Jack Rogers load bags of gifts for Angel Tree recipients
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer