Food Pantry Benefits From Notre Dame's Win In Camping World Bowl

Two days before Notre Dame took on Iowa State in the Camping World Bowl, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb took it upon himself to place a friendly wager with Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa on Twitter, picking the Fighting Irish over the Cyclones.

The loser of the bet would have to send a large amount of agricultural products to a food pantry in the winner's state.

Political agendas aside, this was a smart move for Holcomb considering Notre Dame was as high as a four-point favorite and the bet was made straight up. Not that the spread played much of a factor, as Notre Dame won the contest 33-9.

On Tuesday, Gov. Reynolds made good on her bet. Per Notre Dame's request, she sent 2668 lbs to the Food Bank of Northern Indiana, located in downtown South Bend.

Notre Dame Football Director of Player Development Hunter Bivin was there to see the food delivered and supervise left tackle Liam Eichenberg, defensive back Shaun Crawford and defensive end Justin Ademilola as they helped unload boxes of pork.

"We're really happy that Gov. Holcomb made the right bet, and bet on us to win the game," Bivin said. "Obviously, that means the world to us, that he had the confidence in us, but the fact that it's geared around helping the community and that it ties closely to what we want to do with our program and our guys, it means the world."

As the director of player development, Bivin is the go-between for every player as they navigate their relationships with the coaching staff, academic advisers and other university faculty members. Another aspect of his job is developing the players for life after football.

He took over the role from Ron Powlus, a former Notre Dame quarterback and assistant coach, who is now an associate athletics director, and Bivin came up with the GOLD standard, which is an acronym stands for Growth Opportunities in Life Development. One of the pillars of the GOLD standard is to make an impact, which Bivin says was a fundamental part of his overall development as an offensive lineman at Notre Dame from 2013-17.

"It's really anchored around answering the question, 'how to leave the world a better place?" he said.

While moving a few boxes of pork wasn't a major commitment for the players, this is far from the first time the Notre Dame Football program has volunteered at the Food Bank of Northern Indiana.

Marijo Martinec, the executive director, says the players often come on Wednesdays to interact with customers and serve the community.

"I'm really humbled and grateful," Martinec said. "Over the years, we've partnered with the Fighting Irish football team. They've come here to volunteer, and the guys are always so gracious with the clients here and willing to do whatever needs to be done. We just have a lot of gratitude."

Bivin is also charged with creating career-advancement opportunities.

Over spring break, he and 10 to 12 players will go to New York to network with various companies from a variety of industries, such as media, finance and real estate. They will hear presentations, tour facilities and more. The flights and housing for the trip are covered by the university.

This he says shows the power of the Notre Dame brand but also how valuable his players are as future members of the workforce.

"A lot of people don't realize that as student athletes, you have so many transferable skills that go right into the workplace: your work ethic, time management skills and drive," Bivin said. "Something that's really big that a lot of people don't realize is the coach-ability piece of it.

"Our guys can go into any situation, learn how to do a job and get it done to the best of their ability. That's their bread and butter."

Over the summer, there are also an internship program and five study abroad destinations for the players, which are in Brazil, Russia, Greece, Italy (Milan) and Japan.

"We've got some good options for our guys," Bivin said. "We try to keep it different so the guys can go to different countries and experience different cultures."

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