April 10, 2008
DeKALB, Ill. - Over the past week, two student-athlete organizations and the Northern Illinois womens' track and field team have joined efforts to participate in the campus wide project, 'Operation: Thank You'.
`Operation: Thank You' was created in response to the February 14th tragedy as a way to thank counselors, businesses, and NIU faculty who volunteered their time and services during the week the campus reopened.
As a part of the natural healing process, many students had been searching for a way to help and this project provided them with it.
Members of Athletes in Action (AIA), a Bible study for student-athletes, and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) have taken time out of their weekly meetings to write the thank you cards. The womens' track and field team will spend their bus ride to Western Illinois this weekend writing the cards.
When the project is completed over 800 thank you cards will be sent out all over the country. Student-athletes will have written 120 of those cards. In total, 20 campus organizations are involved in the project.
Junior track and field athlete Jessica Statler, a member of both AIA and SAAC, was excited to participate in the project.
"There were so many people who gave up their own time to reach out to our entire campus," Statler said. "I was happy to thank them."
Statler said while writing the thank you notes, "everyone was excited to help and all felt the same way I did. They really wanted to give back."
The overwhelming support for the project has been a testament to the gratitude the campus and the community feel towards the volunteers' efforts. The project has received generous support in the form of thank you cards donated by DeKalb businesses Target, Wal-Mart, Borders and Barnes & Noble. Additionally, the American Greetings corporate office donated to the project.
On May 6th `Operation: Thank You' will extend the opportunity to write thank you notes to all students on campus with a table in DuSable Hall. The program, called `Cards n' Cookies,' will give students the opportunity to receive a cookie, donated by local bakery Sweet Dreams, after writing a thank you card.
Once the thank you cards have been completed, they will be read through for content and sent out, courtesy of the NIU Alumni Association, before the end of the semester.
