A pair of Monmouth College student-athletes found time in the middle of finals week to deliver some cheer to local special needs residents.

Senior Jalynne Young (Monmouth, Ill./Monmouth-Roseville), junior Kyra Kimber (Chicago, Ill./Bronzeville Scholastic Institute) and Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) adviser Melissa Bittner took nearly an hour Monday to deliver presents donated through SAAC's angel tree. Now in its fifth year, SAAC sponsored the angel tree at Monmouth College to benefit consumers through Warren Achievement Center.

For Young – who plays softball for the Fighting Scots – it was just a continuation of what she's experienced in her youth.

"My mom used to work for Warren Achievement, so I've actually been around some of the consumers all my life," said Young. "It's really a way for the college community to show support for the rest of the community by giving something back."

It was Kimber's first experience delivering the presents in Monmouth, although the cross country and track student-athlete was in a program similar to SAAC during her high school days.

"My high school had a service program very much like SAAC," explained Kimber on why she volunteered to be a SAAC representative. "I like to make people happy and the angel tree does that."

Members of the campus and community provided gifts for nearly 50 special needs consumers. Bittner explained the demand couldn't keep up with the supply.

"We had more people wanting to help than we had angels," said Bittner. "Once we got some angel packages turned in, we stuck the angel on the tree again. Many of them had more than one person supply a gift."

For the student-athletes at Monmouth representing 22 varsity sports, taking time out from a hectic week of finals exams before the winter break to help others was nothing out of the ordinary and might have actually provided Kimber and Young with a nice break from final exams.

"Finals week can be a stressful time," acknowledged Bittner. "This little diversion gave Kyra and Jalynne a little break from the rigors of exams. Hopefully, they got de-stressed and can finish up their exams on a high note."

Young, a biopsychology and exercise science double major, and Kimber, a psychology major, would probably agree with Bittner's assessment, which just might be a question on one of their exams.