Dec. 9, 2003

BALTIMORE, Md. -- The Johns Hopkins men's and women's lacrosse teams and the school's Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) recently used the first home football playoff game in school history to collect food and raise money for the Maryland Food Bank. The two lacrosse teams and the SAAC gathered over 500 pounds of nonperishable food and took donations that totaled just under $600 at the game to aid needy families in the Baltimore area for Thanksgiving.

The Johns Hopkins football team hosted King's College (PA) in the ECAC Division III South Atlantic Championship game at Homewood Field on November 22. In lieu of an admission fee, members of the SAAC and the lacrosse teams decided to host a food drive at the game. Johns Hopkins SID Ernie Larossa and King's SID Bob Ziadie publicized the group's efforts prior to the game and fans turned out with both donations of food and money.

"We do not normally charge admission for fans to attend our home football games," Johns Hopkins Director of Athletics Tom Calder noted. "We had the option of charging an admission fee for the playoff game, but representatives of the lacrosse teams and the SAAC wanted to use this as an opportunity to help those who might be less fortunate at Thanksgiving. Members of our lacrosse teams are some of our most loyal football fans and this allowed them to support their friends and use our first-ever home playoff game as something that was very positive for the community," he added.

In the game, the Blue Jays defeated the Monarchs, 41-13 to complete the most successful season in school history with a 10-1 record, a share of a second straight Centennial Conference title and the ECAC Division III South Atlantic Championship. The Johns Hopkins men's and women's lacrosse teams, which both compete at the Division I level, are both coming off highly-successful seasons. The men's team posted a 14-2 record and advanced to the NCAA Division I Championship game. The women's team spent most of the 2003 season ranked in the top 20 and just missed making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament.

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