At the University of Maine, Orono, the name Jim Leger is synonymous with volunteer work. Leger is well known throughout the university and the community for his efforts with Toys for Tots, National Student-Athlete Day and a community reading program, to name only a few.

He's also known for his academic prowess and his leadership on the ice as a senior forward on the men's ice hockey team.

Now Leger's accomplishments are being recognized nationally. At the NCAA Frozen Four last month, Leger was named the recipient of the 2000 Humanitarian Award, presented annually to college hockey's finest citizen.

"Words can't express how honored I am to be receiving the Humanitarian Award," Leger said. "It is hard to believe that I am receiving this award, especially considering how many other college hockey players in the country are as deserving."

Leger began volunteering while he was a junior at Phillips Andover Academy, and he hasn't stopped since. He started assisting bilingual children in an elementary school, where he read and discussed poetry with them. Then he joined other athletes at the academy in spending time with mentally challenged youngsters.

After high-school graduation, Leger went to Stratford, Ontario, to play junior hockey.

"The woman whose house I lived in taught kindergarten at a local elementary school," Leger said. "She would bring me to the school where I would volunteer to help with the learning-disabled and socially disabled kids in the resource room. I would read with them, help them write and help them with math."

Before long, Leger found himself volunteering to coach a basketball team made up of sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade girls. "You should see a hockey player coach a girls basketball team," Leger said.

While their coach may have been more comfortable on the ice than on the bench, the girls were successful, making it to the county finals for the first time in school history.

When Leger came to Maine, he brought with him the idea that he should be spending his free time giving back to others. He helped organize the school's National Student-Athlete Day, persuading 12 student-athletes from different teams to go with him to talk to elementary and middle-school students.

He visited elementary schools on a regular basis as part of a community reading program, and he also was a regular visitor at hospitals and pediatric wards. He served as the Grand Marshall of the local Walk for Multiple Sclerosis, participated in the Terry Fox Run for Cancer Research four different times and was a volunteer coach for hockey schools and clinics.

Last Christmas, he organized the campus-wide Toys for Tots program, and he even managed to persuade the entire men's hockey team to volunteer alongside him. The efforts of Leger and the rest of the team resulted in the campaign tripling the amount of money and toys collected on campus.

Leger also tutors teammates and other Maine students who need academic assistance.

"Jimmy seems to have the best interests of other people in mind and does something about it," said Maine assistant athletics director Tracey Flynn. "He has a special interest in helping children. If a volunteer is needed, Jim can be counted on to be there. Better yet, when he participates in a community service activity, he invites fellow student-athletes along."

Leger recently was elected president of Maine's Student Athletic Advisory Board, and he also was nominated by the university's president to serve on the University of Maine Athletic Advisory Board.

With all that time devoted to helping others, it's a wonder that Leger would have time for his own academics. But he has made the time. He will graduate this spring with a bachelor's degree in public management and a minor in mathematics and business.

He's the 1999-00 winner of the school's Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award for the Department of Public Administration, an award voted upon by the department's faculty and given for a record of academic excellence in the public management major, a commitment to public service and overall academic performance at the university.

Leger also won Maine's "Dean Smith Award" as the top male student-athlete at the school, and he also was selected to the Hockey East all-academic team.

And -- oh, yes -- he plays hockey too. A walk-on when he first joined the team, Leger is a team captain who had nine goals and nine assists in 39 games this year for the Black Bears, the 1999 Division I champion.

In 1997, Leger was named the team's outstanding defensive forward, and a year ago he was named recipient of the team's "Unsung Hero Award."

While Leger may no longer be an unsung hero, he is still a hero and a role model to the many people who continue to be touched by his volunteer efforts. And that's still much more than he ever asked for.

"My reward has always been to see a smile on the face of someone I have helped," he said.

Many people are smiling in Maine this spring.