Student-Athlete Advisory Committees at Conference USA institutions collected more than $19,000 in cash and goods during the fall semester as part of the conference’s “C-USA Changing Lives” program.

The conference-wide community-service initiative is designed to unite league institutions through donations to various charities around the country.

Each school conducted a campus-wide loose-change drive or other type of fund-raiser for one week during the fall semester. The SAACs collected a combined total of $19,534.80 in cash or other donations.

As examples, Southern Mississippi collected $3,585.50 in a canned-food drive for Homes of Hope for Children, an organization that serves children in crisis throughout the state. Marshall collected $3,120 for the Salvation Army through a coat drive and East Carolina finished third with a canned-food drive that produced $2,263 worth of food for the East Carolina Food Bank.