The Thames Aquatic Club (TAC) hosted a first ever community service day on Wednesday, June 17th at Lott Natatorium at Connecticut College. The swim club wanted to make a big splash in the community by helping others. They chose to help the community in two ways.

Eight year old Quaker Hill swimmer, Jayne Darras, went to the club and asked it they would help her earn money for cancer research. This launched the Raptor Relays. Each swimmer was asked to find sponsors for the five relays that they swam. Jayne and her teammates were able to earn over $5,000 to donate to the V Foundation for Cancer Research. The V Foundation is one of the only charities that gives 100% of donated funds directly to cancer research. The swimmers were paired into eight relay teams - consisting of beginner to advanced team members. The team had a wonderful time swimming to raise money for cancer research.

Senior swimmer, Kristen Vitale, also wanted the club to assist her in obtaining donations for soldiers serving our country overseas. The club was able to collect over 700 pounds of goods to send to the soldiers. They were also able to collect some donations toward postage to mail all the goods overseas.

It was wonderful to see that children wanted to make an effort to better the world. Great job TAC swimmers! You are winners both IN and OUT of the pool!

On Sunday, April 26, the University of Connecticut baseball and softball teams hosted their annual "Strike Out Cancer" day. During the softball doubleheader against Villanova and the baseball game against St. John's, the Huskies held a silent auction to raise money for the V Foundation for Cancer Research. $3,030 was raised from this year's event. The Branford "Play for a Cure" Event was a huge success raising over $2,000.

The Girls Tennis Team recently solicited donations for Geno Auriemma's Cancer Team, founded by Geno and Kathy Aureimma to raise funds on the road to the final cure. The girls solicited contributions (many based upon the total number of sets won by the team) for their recent East Hartford match. The girls raised a total of $1076 with 100% of the amount going to the V Foundation, founded in 1993 by ESPN and Jim Valvano.