Bahgat, Collins Named to SEC Community Service Teams
Birmingham, Ala. – The Southeastern Conference released its 2024 Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving Community Service Teams on Tuesday with South Carolina being represented by Youssef Bahhgat and Paige Collins.
The SEC Community Service Team looks to highlight an athlete from each school who gives back to their community in superior service efforts.
Bahgat earned his spot on the team by leading South Carolina’s men’s team in community service hours. He already has over 110 hours under his belt in just his second year with the program.
He cites one of his favorite volunteer activities as his work with the Gamecocks Aiding Refugees group that works in conjunction with the Carolina Survivor Clinic. Through this organization, Bahgat visits a family of refugees from Afghanistan weekly and works with a set of twin brothers to help them learn English.
He also works with the Generation Gamecock Mentoring Program where he attends a local underprivileged middle school twice weekly for two weeks out of the month. There, Bahgat develops relationships with the students and collaborates specifically with a refugee student to make him feel more comfortable in the classroom. He also teaches a remote Sunday School weekly at the Islamic Center of Columbia.
Additionally, Bahgat also is a part of South Carolina’s Dream on 3 group that fundraises and uses those funds to provide experiences to children with disabilities. This year, the group provided a child his dream weekend in which he got to attend a South Carolina football game.
Bahgat was also a participant at the Gamecock Games where South Carolina student-athletes visit the Therapy Place clinic and have a day full of activities for the patients there.
In addition to his community service, Bahgat is also the philanthropy chair of the Arab Student Association as well as the secretary of the Muslim Student Association. He is also a member of the South Carolina honors college where he is pursuing a major in biology and a minor in business administration.
Collins earned her spot on the team after leading South Carolina’s team in community service hours this with nearly 90 hours going into the spring semester. She cites her favorite activity as the “Sandstorm Buddies” event, where she along with other University of South Carolina student-athletes visit the local Prisma Health Children’s hospital and read to patients in their care. Collins primarily works with the 5-6 year olds and volunteers at the hospital weekly. In addition, she also attends local elementary schools to read with their students.
Another one of Collins’ favorite activities is volunteering at the Therapy Place, where she aids children with special needs with their physical therapy, occupational therapy, and language pathology. She attends the Therapy Place twice weekly. One of her most notable events while working at the Therapy Place was hosting a booth at the clinic’s Truck or Treat event in which Collins and her teammates decorated their car to give out candy and played holiday games with the patients.
She is also the team liaison for the Team Impact program in which South Carolina athletics programs partner with children with long term medical disabilities to make them honorary members of the team and coordinate activities for the children to do with the team. Similarly, she is also a part of South Carolina’s Dream on 3 group that fundraises and uses those funds to provide experiences to children with disabilities. This year, the group provided a child with his dream weekend in which he was able to attend a South Carolina football game.
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