Humans of USU: Cheer squad wraps up spring break with charity event
After a week of cheering for the Utah State basketball games, the USU cheer squad members wrapped up their experience at the Mountain West tournament by joining their cheer rivals and volunteering for the Goodie Two Shoes Foundation.
The charity provides disadvantaged children and children in crisis with new shoes, socks and other items deemed essential for good health and positive development.
After doing stunts with her teammates, interacting with children and helping the volunteers distribute supplies, Mariah Hansen, a freshman in mathematics and a member of USU’s cheer squad, shared her first-time experience working with the charity with the Statesman.
Utah Statesman: Tell me about what it’s like to be doing this charity event today?
Mariah Hansen: Okay. It’s so cool. I mean, we have a lot of opportunities to do service projects and we’ve done a few throughout the year, but this is by far the coolest. Like, to see how happy these kids are. They’re so pumped right now. It’s so cute and a lot of these kids haven’t gotten shoes for, like, two years and so it’s really cool to be here and see them, like, be so happy. They’re so happy.
US: Can you give me a little run down about what the Goodie Two Shoes Charity is for?
MH: Yeah, so the Goodie Two Shoes is a charity foundation and they just get donations from the community and from businesses and they get shoes for elementary school kids. So today they’re getting new shoes and a new backpack and a new tee-shirt and then, like, some Utah State swag stuff that we donated.
US: Tell me, what are some of the things that stood out to you today doing this charity event?
MH: I think mostly how happy the kids are. Like, I don’t know, I was really spoiled as a little girl. I loved getting new shoes, but I was never this happy about it. And I feel like the community here is really willing to donate because we, like, have a lot of shoes here and they’re really nice and big brands, like Nike and Adidas stuff.
US: What is it like volunteering in a group that has a bunch of other schools and different colleges from all around?
MH: I’m a really, really, really proud Aggie, so whenever I see other schools, I’m like ‘Go Aggies!’ But it’s cool. They’re all really nice and it’s, like, cool that we can come together and do something, like put aside that we lost and they beat us and they shouldn’t have, but to put our differences aside and our rivalries aside and, like, come together and do something cool.
Us: What would you like students to know about what it’s like to be doing this charity event?
MH: Well, I think as a Utah state student I think, like, this is what we are about, serving our community. I think part of being an Aggie is giving back, because Utah State gives us so many opportunities, so to give back that many opportunities to other people is cool.
-miranda.lorenc@gmail.com
@miranda_lorenc
thats a great charity from the usu student I’m a student in blanding Utah. way down in the southeastern state of Utah and yes go aggies…and this is a great reflection on the younger generation of this kind of donations…it would be great to bring some of the great aggie spirit and support we want as student to get this program down here at our campus…me and my wife are full time… most and a few of the adults has graduated from the aggies, and some still enrolled, majority is native americans. as a student of the aggies, to see this kind of charity and donations on the southeastern area of Utah would be touch worthy to our young students in the school districts of Utah that are in the educational system. GO AGGIES….