INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Recognized among the top schools in the country, Menlo College Athletics finished second in Helper Helper's NCAA Community Engagement Impact Challenge as announced by the NCAA this week. The Oaks contributed more than 3,770 hours of service to their community during a fall season highlighted by their annual toy drive partnering with Good Tidings Foundation, truly exemplifying the impact college athletics can have beyond competition.

The NCAA and Helper Helper, a volunteer management and tracking platform, conducted their fall-based initiative for the 11th year, celebrating student-athletes who volunteer their time and services as well as their schools for supporting them.

"The NCAA schools participating in the Community Engagement Impact Challenge are showing that service can be organized, celebrated, and scaled," said Krista Clement, president of Helper Helper and a former NCAA women's basketball student-athlete at Michigan. "Exceeding last year's 210,000 hours and reaching 257,000 this fall demonstrates what's possible when athletics departments intentionally support community involvement. These student-athletes aren't just competing at a high level — they're strengthening the communities that support them."

The NCAA Community Engagement Impact Challenge, which ran from September through December 2025, measures both the total number of volunteer hours completed per student-athlete and the overall percentage of student-athletes participating in community service programs and activities. For the third straight year, Coker University walked away as NCAA Division II winners of the competition.

This year, student-athletes in Divisions I, II and III contributed a total of 257,299 hours of community service, an increase of approximately 47,000 hours from last year's competition. Division I student-athletes contributed 132,341 hours of volunteer time; Division II student-athletes contributed 91,333 hours; and Division III student-athletes donated 33,625 hours. According to the Independent Sector's research on the national value of volunteer time, their efforts generated an estimated $8.9 million in economic impact.