SWARTHMORE, Pa.—Samantha Barnes and Amy Harris, members of the Swarthmore College Women's Soccer team, organized a weekend fundraising event on social media, quickly raising nearly $3,000 for social justice initiatives. The funds were distributed to the Equal Justice Initiative, Black Girls Code and Chester Upland Youth Soccer, causes that have a great significance to the team.

Using Instagram and Facebook, the team shared a bingo board marked with small dollar amounts and encouraged friends and family to donate to fill up the squares. More than 130 unique donors contributed to the causes, and student-athletes also made matching contributions.

Barnes was inspired by the global protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and felt the need to contribute in a practical way. "I knew (my team) would want to help and get involved," she said. "We had been consistently sharing resources and educational tools throughout the height of the movement this past summer to make sure we would come out of it as a stronger, more educated, more safe, and more inclusive team as possible."

Harris jumped on board with the idea. "It was important to both of us that the entire team be involved at every step of the decision-making process," she said. The team then voted on which organizations to support. Coach Todd Anckaitis supported the effort and provided input throughout. Teammate Amelia Mounts designed the board for distribution on social media accounts.

As funds started pouring in, Barnes and Harris were impressed and proud of the impact their team was making. For Barnes, "being a black athlete and having teammates feeling as motivated and genuinely excited for the outcome of this fundraiser meant a lot to me," she said, "and it can't be understated how important it is for people to understand the emotional positions and realities of their teammates, especially when it comes to race."

Barnes added that it was powerful for her to witness how much impact one group of students can have. "Each of us has our own specific and unique network of individuals in our lives and finding a way to unite under a single cause is pretty powerful," she said. "We each know how impactful these donations will be for these three organizations, especially Chester Upland Youth Soccer, with whom we hope to continue growing a relationship and supporting." 

Anckaitis commented that his team never ceases to amaze him. "I'm so proud of their initiative and efforts in working to improve the world and positively representing themselves and the groups they belong to both on and off the field.  A long line of women from this program have done it in many different ways over the years and I love seeing how we continue the tradition from one year to the next."