AUBURN, Ala. – Jessica Merritt and Brooks Merkle were both selected by the Southeastern Conference to represent Auburn on the 2020 SEC Swimming and Diving Community Service Team, the league announced last week.
The team, which has a male and female representative from each school, highlights student-athletes in the SEC who give back to their communities in superior service efforts.
Merritt, a senior who has made the Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll each of the last two years, has been involved at the university and in the community since she arrived at Auburn. Last spring, she was part of a team that volunteered to help clean-up efforts in the Beauregard area after the devastating tornado went through. She also took part in the Downtown Trick or Treat and helped stuff backpacks to assist the Jason Dufner Foundation.
Merritt tutors at two different local elementary schools, and she is very involved at her church with projects such as the Giving Hope ministry and the Freedom Conference. At the local Dream Center, Merritt has spent time making sleeping mats for homeless people.
Merkle, a sophomore at Auburn, also assisted in the clean-up efforts in Beauregard after the tornado went through last year. In addition, he took part in a pep really for Kayla Grimes, one of the survivors of the storm.
Merkle has volunteered at the East Alabama Food Bank and with the Jason Dufner Foundation where he helped stuff backpacks for children in need, and he has also spent 20 community service hours this year working in the food pantry at Auburn United Methodist Church.
Last year, seniors Bailey Nero and Foster Ballard served as Auburn's representatives on the SEC S&D Community Service Team.