BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Director of Communications Ed Haas tops the 2023-24 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Volunteer 15 Initiative List for volunteer/community service hours.
The #Volunteer15 program is an initiative launched in 2014-15 by the Goodness and Wellness Committee to get College Sports Communicators members more involved in their communities. CSC members promote the great civic works done by their athletics teams but there is no promotion, or very little, about our members doing community service either with these teams or independently. CSC members are encouraged to volunteer at least 15 hours of community service each academic year.
Haas tops the list for the seventh time – and the sixth time in as many years – with 1,590 hours as he leads a total of 162 CSC members who totaled 13,920 hours of community service.
Previously, Haas led the Community Service list in 2016-17 (1,210 hours), 2018-19 list (1,696 hours), 2019-20 (1,740 hours), 2020-21 (1,700 hours), 2021-22 (1,356 hours) and 2022-23 (1,300 hours).
Outside the office, he has served as a member of the CSC Academic All-America Committee and the West Sadsbury Township (Pa.) Planning Commission for over a decade. In March 2015, Haas was appointed to the three-member West Sadsbury Township Board of Supervisors, the Keystone Valley Fire District (KVFD) Board and was elected Vice-Chairman of both the Board of Supervisors and Fire District Board in April of 2015. He was reelected to another six-year term on the West Sadsbury Township Board of Supervisors in the Fall of 2017 and was elected Chairman of both the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors in January 2020. He served as both the Vice Chairman of the KVFD Board, Chairman of the Planning Commission and Vice Chairman of the West Sadsbury Board of Supervisors – prior to being reappointed as Board of Supervisors Chairman in October 2023 – in addition to volunteering his time to various charitable efforts in the community including the West Catholic High School Burrs at the Beach Committee.
Overall, the number of participants and volunteer hours for the Volunteer 15 program increased for the 10th consecutive year to 13,920. The program has set a record every year since its inception in 2014-15 and has totaled 89,571 hours of community service over the past nine years.
Among the CSC membership, 17 individuals logged over 200 hours throughout the year as Sam Atkinson (Gallaudet University), Lindsey Branch (Montana Western), Rob Carolla (Pro Volleyball Federation), Josh Deer (Concordia-St. Paul), Dom Donnelly (Tusculum University), Katie Gonzales (Illinois Western University), Haas,, Travis Jarome (Jackson State), Joe Matthews (Emory & Henry), Eric McDowell (retired Past President), Patrick Murphy (Colorado School of Mines), Ali Paquette (Middlebury College), Greg Pellegrino (Penn State Abington), Cindy Potter (Columbia College), Jay Stancil (Appalachian Athletic Conference), Ira Thor (New Jersey City University) and Blake Timm (Pacific University) topped the mark.
