COLUMBUS -- When thousands of Ohio State and South Carolina fans descend on Tampa next week for the Outback Bowl, they won't all be there just to soak up the sun and atmosphere.

Hundreds of Ohio State University students, faculty and administrators will celebrate the success of the football team by taking part in a new bowl game tradition: community service. The Office of Student Affairs is again coordinating several community service projects to coincide with the football team's participation in the Outback Bowl Jan. 1.

Groups of volunteers will work on 13 projects at various sites in Tampa and Clearwater on Friday and Saturday (12/29 and 30). The projects include painting at Salvation Army emergency housing and at a runaway shelter, playing games and doing crafts with sick children, reading to adults in an assisted living facility, and doing household and outdoor chores at a Ronald McDonald House. Cheerleaders will visit children in hospitals, and members of the Ohio State University Marching Band will participate in a project at a health care facility.

More than 100 Ohio State representatives, including President Kirwan and Provost Edward Ray, coaches’ wives, members of the Marching Band and cheerleaders, will also volunteer to clean parks and playgrounds, and provide guest services at the Museum of Science and Industry and the Florida Aquarium. Kirwan is scheduled to volunteer at the Salvation Army, 1603 North Florida Avenue, for interior painting of the lodge and emergency housing, at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday (12/30). Kirwan will be joined by the president of the University of South Carolina, John M. Palms.

Service learning and volunteerism are becoming a fundamental part of the student culture at Ohio State as the Office of Student Affairs makes it an integral component of undergraduate education. This marks the third time the office has coordinated service projects in conjunction with the team's bowl game. The tradition began in 1997, when Florida State University asked counterparts at Ohio State to join them for service projects in New Orleans as part of the 1998 Sugar Bowl.

"These projects will benefit our host city as well as our volunteers," said Tracy Stuck, director of student activities and coordinator of the service projects. "It's a chance to show that Ohio State cares about the community, whether it's Columbus or Tampa. It is truly amazing to see what happens when the Buckeyes arrive and go to work somewhere. "

All nine projects on Saturday (12/30) are in collaboration with volunteers from the University of South Carolina. Stuck says her call to South Carolina was met with enthusiasm. "They've never done a community service project like this before. They were very grateful that we called and asked them to join us," said Stuck. "They're excited and we're excited that we'll be working together. This kind of teamwork really illustrates the spirit of community service.”

For the University of South Carolina, the Outback Bowl marks their first post-season bowl game since 1995. Jerry Brewer, director of student life at USC, says "it makes a world of sense to get together for community service projects at the bowl game. Our cheerleaders will get together with your cheerleaders to visit children in hospitals. And what better way for our presidents to meet and talk than while painting a room at the Salvation Army?"

A complete schedule of projects, including a sign-up sheet, is available at www.osu.edu/units/stuaff/bowlgame/outback2001/service.htm. Any fan attending the game is encouraged to participate in the volunteer effort. Volunteers may call Tracy Stuck in Columbus at (614) 688-4145 for information through Dec. 27. Beginning Dec. 28, Stuck may be reached in Tampa via cell phone at (614) 657-8761/ Adam’s Mark Clearwater at 727-443-5714

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