Student-athletes at the University of Utah and Brigham Young University have turned "Rivalry Week" into a time to give back to their communities.

During the week of the annual football game between the schools, members of the schools' student-athlete advisory committees (SAACs) organize and participate in a community-service project together.

"For about five years, this has been an annual tradition with sites rotating between each school's campus, depending on where the 'rivalry' game is being played," said Mary Bowman, assistant athletics director at Utah.

This year Utah was host, and student-athletes from both schools gathered in Salt Lake City at the Burbridge Athletics-Academics Center.

They assembled hygiene kits for individuals served by a variety of organizations in Salt Lake City, including the Homeless Youth Resource Shelter, the Center for Children and Women and the Christmas Box House. The student-athletes also delivered the kits, which included a variety of health-care products, to the needy organizations.

"It was a unique opportunity for our two universities to collaborate and help the community," said sophomore Jake Sowby, a golf student-athlete. "The personal-hygiene kits were perfect for the institutions that stood in need. It was so rewarding to see the people from the organizations; they were extremely grateful for those kits. The service also furthered friendships among athletes off the field of competition."

Kim Allen, a senior gymnast and president of the Utah SAAC, echoed the thoughts of many of the student-athletes who participated.

"Even though we may be competitors and rivals on the field, it was rewarding to be able to combine our efforts to help out our community in Utah," she said.

Though the event is held the week of the Brigham Young-Utah football game, there were still several football student-athletes who participated, including quarterback Brett Elliott.

Former Utah football player Mbe Agbor was instrumental in getting the health-care products donated from his employer, Unilever Health and Personal Care Company. Several employees from Unilever also helped assemble the kits.

Though the Utah and Brigham Young student-athletes do something different every year, the whole idea is to help the less fortunate in the community that is hosting the game. Last year, the student-athletes visited patients in a state hospital and hung Christmas tree lights for the elderly.

In previous years, the student-athletes have visited with youngsters in a juvenile-detention facility, visited patients at a psychiatry institute and even served ice cream and repaired furniture at a center serving homeless mothers and children.

This ongoing joint project was a good idea that came about because of an informal conversation between life skills coordinators in the athletics departments at the two schools.

Several years ago, Bowman was speaking with Ryan Zimmerman, then the life skills coordinator at Brigham Young.

The two of them were looking for ways that student-athletes from the two schools could work together to benefit their communities. What emerged has become a tradition that student-athletes from both schools eagerly anticipate.

"We are rivals in athletics, but when it comes to serving our community we are able to put our competitive natures aside and work together to help others," said Maren Harper, a senior soccer student-athlete.

Utah football players who helped out with the joint project this year also helped lead their team to a 13-6 victory over Brigham Young later that week, perhaps proving that fraternizing with your rivals off the field -- and doing good works in the process -- can be good for you .