Although the last of the Mustangs teams wound down their seasons last month, the Mustangs student-athletes have not stopped giving back to the London community. Three Mustangs including wrestlers Larissa D'Alleva and Brianne Barry and ringette player Melissa Guiler delivered 30 pounds of toiletries to Misson Services of London which will be used in their Crash Beds program, a service that provides a safe and secure space for men and women.

The toiletries were donated as part of an initiative that was spearheaded by Mustangs varsity sports coordinator Bonnie Cooper and travel coordinator Sherri Castrilli that saw Mustangs teams collect unused toiletries from their hotel rooms while travelling on the road.

Cooper and Castrilli's hotel collection initiative was started because it seemed to offer an easy way to give back to the community. Mustangs student-athletes are always on the road, travelling to away games and staying at hotels while doing so, and collecting the unused goods provided a great way to donate some much-needed products for a good cause. A number of Western teams committed themselves to the initiative as did the Mustangs hotel partner Westmont Hospitality Group that, along with their support this year, who supported the cause.

With the Mustangs donation, the Crash Beds Program will now have supplies that should last for about a month and a half according to Mission Services of London's Donor Relations Coordinator Irma Haggith-Fonseca.

"We depend solely on donations for the program," says Mission Services of London's Donor Relations Coordinator, Irma Haggith-Fonseca. "If we don't have these donations then people go without."

With the first year already in the books, the Mustangs Athletes Student Council has once again embraced the cause and more teams have already agreed to contribute to the initiative in the upcoming athletic year. Cooper and Castrilli's hopes for the initiative are that it continues to grow, with more teams participating in order to contribute larger donations to the Mission Services of London.

For more information on Mission Services of London including info on how to get involved, please visit their website at missionservices.ca