DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Bethune-Cookman University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is getting into the holiday spirit and giving back to the Daytona Beach community with the Second Annual Shoe Box Blessings program.

On Tuesday, Dec. 4, members of the B-CU SAAC organization from women's basketball and softball met in the Michael & Libby Johnson Center for Civic Engagement to help wrap gifts for youngsters. In essence, the program was established by Bethune-Cookman to make sure children in and around the Daytona Beach area will have a present for Christmas.

"Cletra Peters is the person who began this project," stated B-CU SAAC organizer Sharonda Faison - assistant academic coordinator for the B-CU athletic department. "This is the fourth community service event this year SAAC has done to involve the community closer with Bethune-Cookman. We have participated in Breast Cancer Awareness, Thanksgiving Day baskets and a Sunday Funday."

The B-CU SAAC members fill up shoe boxes with gifts based on age group. The committee takes ornaments from a tree located in the Parlin Center on the B-CU campus, and they buy gifts according to the age groups that they pull. Then they wrap the gifts in shoe boxes and return them under the Parlin Center Christmas tree. Those gifts are later distributed throughout the committee by the Residential Assistants Association.

Members of the B-CU community can also get involved with the Shoe Box Blessings program by selecting an ornament from the Parlin Center, LLC, Joyner or Curtis Hall Christmas trees. Each ornament will have the age, gender and wishes of a child from the Daytona Beach community. You can then drop off your gift on December 3 and 4 at Curtis Hall.

For all the latest information on the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, follow the official Twitter feed, @BCUathletics, or "Like Us" on Facebook at Bethune-Cookman Athletics.

-www.BCUathletics.com-