Chicago, IL 

Gopher Global planned, organized, fundraised, and attended their first ever community outreach trip, which was held in Chicago, Illinois. The Gopher Global student-athletes, along with the help of Anissa Lightner, who also attended this Chicago community outreach event, and multiple other University of Minnesota Athletic Department Staff members organized and fundraised enough money to completely cover the costs of Gopher Global’s first ever service trip.

After bussing from Minneapolis to Chicago all day on Friday June 8th, 2012, Gopher Global got strait to work on Saturday morning, June 9th, 2012. While in Chicago, these University of Minnesota student-athletes worked alongside student-athletes from three other Big Ten Universities: Michigan State, Michigan, and Illinois. After meeting in the morning with all of the volunteers, the student-athletes were then bussed to one of the twenty-four elementary schools in the Chicago area to begin working on cleaning, painting, and re-decorating the schools.

After a hard day’s work by our Gopher student-athletes, it was evident that these individuals really made a lasting impact at Benjamin Banneker School, which is an elementary school located in Englewood, Illinois. Benjamin Banneker is also the former elementary school of Gopher Football Player Johnny Johnson. Over twenty rooms, more than six murals and hallways, the entire gym, and also outdoor projects such as a map of the United States, foursquare courts, and hopscotch areas were re-painted and decorated.

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