An idea sparked by Terra McGowan's last class as a University of Oregon undergraduate has resulted in much to be thankful for around the Eugene-Springfield community this holiday season.
What started out as an assignment for a psychology class turned into a series of fundraisers conducted this fall by McGowan and the rest of the UO softball program. Thanks to their efforts, scores of kids will find a few extra gifts under the Christmas tree next month, hundreds more have warm socks to wear through the chill of winter, and a few dozen coats were distributed to those in need around the community.
In the fall of 2021, McGowan used one of Oregon's preseason exhibition games to concurrently conduct a toy drive benefitting Willamette Family, Inc., which provides support services for families of individuals recovering from substance abuse. The idea stemmed from a class assignment requiring McGowan to participate in a community service project, in partnership with a local organization.
From that project bloomed this fall's series of donation drives. One year later, the Ducks collected coats for the Eugene Mission, socks for teens in crisis through Looking Glass Community Services, and sports equipment to honor the memory of former UO football player Spencer Webb.
"One thing that I think is really special about this group is, I think they all understand they have a platform, and they want to use their platforms for good causes," UO coach Melyssa Lombardi said. "And I really appreciate them."
McGowan, a first-team all-conference catcher in the spring, collected about 70 toys for Willamette Family last year, and triple that number this fall. Earlier this week she and teammate Katelyn Howard went grocery shopping, spending money collected by the team to assemble Thanksgiving dinner baskets that were to be delivered to local families in need.
This year's toy drive was held in concurrence with the Ducks' fall exhibition opener, a doubleheader with Corban on Oct. 9. Prior to the games, McGowan and her teammates contacted players from Corban to coordinate promotion of the toy drive.
After the doubleheader, she walked up to the front entrance of Jane Sanders Stadium, where donation bins for the toy drive were placed. The first thing McGowan saw was a pair of bikes, donated by the parents of freshman teammate Remmington Hewitt.
"And that was awesome, because we never had something of that magnitude in the past," McGowan said. "The next day I came in with Kate, and there were four bins full. We took each one out and counted them up and took a photo, and it was surreal."
McGowan and Howard loaded the toys into their sport-utility vehicles to take them to Willamette Family, Inc. Both cars were swollen with gifts to be donated to local kids.
"Each year families tell us how much this support means to them," said Edith Baumgart, program director for children and family services with Willamette Family, Inc. "Often times families are unable to purchase gifts, making partnerships such as the one with the UO softball team incredibly valuable."
McGowan's fellow catcher with the Ducks, Abby Mulvey, had a similar experience after helping organize the sock drive held in coordination with games against College of the Siskiyous and Oregon Tech on Oct. 15. A member of the Looking Glass staff had dropped off a cardboard box to collect the socks on game day; the Ducks sent him back to his office with several large trash bags packed with socks — some 1,250 pairs.
"A couple of days before, we reached out to both the teams that were going to play that day, and they told us, hey, our goal is to bring 100 socks," Mulvey said. "When I came to the field before our game, I saw them out there putting their socks in the bin, taking pictures of it, and they had over 100 socks.
"And then coming back the next day to organize them and seeing that we had a huge yellow bin plus the box that the one guy gave us — when he came he was like, 'I was expecting one cardboard box.' And he had to fill his entire car."
A week later on Oct. 23, the Ducks collected coats during their games against Southern Oregon and Mt. Hood Community College. Senior transfer Kyla Morris was among the players who coordinated that effort, which provided her a better sense of the symbiotic relationship between the Ducks and the fans who pack Jane Sanders Stadium, and who participated in the fall donation drives.
"The biggest thing for me was seeing how connected Oregon softball is into the community, and how important it is to have that strong fan base and that strong connection with the community around us," Morris said.
"It just shows how much of a family we are and how much of a community we are, how much we support each other and how much we're willing to go the extra mile — not only for just our program, but for the community around us and the people that support us every day. Being able to give back to the people in our community and just making sure we're taking care of our facility, taking care of our space, taking care of our home."
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