BOSTON – Junior forward  Megan Salsinha (Westport, Mass.) of the UMass Lowell field hockey team and senior sprinter Joseph Young (Shrewsbury, Mass.) of the men's track and field team have been honored as members of the 2021-2022 America East Helping Hands Team, as announced by the conference on Thursday afternoon.

Comprised of 16 student-athletes this year, the America East Helping Hands Team recognizes a male and female student-athlete from each America East institution for their outstanding efforts in the area of community service while also remaining in good academic standing.
 
Entering her senior year in 2022, Salsinha has already made her impact on the UMass Lowell community. She served as the SAAC Co-President for the 2021-2022 academic year and has recently been renominated for Co-President for the upcoming 2022-2023 academic year. Through her work with SAAC, she led her team to collect 2,175 items in the Food Frenzy Initiative, the second most by a team in the department. She was integral in the collection, sorting and delivery process, and tabled at various games and events to help collect goods. Salsinha has also helped in the Morgan's Message and Spread Respect efforts on campus, aiming to spread awareness for their respective causes. The Westport native serves the community in her personal time through tutoring sessions at the university's Biological Tutoring Center, volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club, and selling raffle tickets to raise money for local charities for a Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union event. In the classroom she has a 4.0 cumulative GPA and is a five-time Dean's List honoree. She has been named the America East Commissioner's Fall Honor Roll in 2019 as well as earning NFHCA National Academic Squad and Zag/NFHCA Scholar of Distinction honors in her rookie season. Additionally, Salsinha is a 2020 NFHCA Division I National Academic Squad honoree and earned 2021 America East All-Academic Team honors.
 
A business major, Young is a five-time Dean's List honoree and was named to the America East Winter/Spring Academic Honor Roll in the 2019-2020 season. The Shrewsbury native led UMass Lowell in the America East Food Frenzy Initiative and was named the Food Frenzy Coordinator for the SAAC Executive Board. Young's efforts helped collect and donate over 15,000 items to local pantries and led to a first-place finish amongst the conference. The senior has dedicated much of his time to helping the community, including helping to clean the route for the Jennifer's Run 5k and participating in the McAuliffe Elementary School Pen Pal program.

Each institution, at its discretion, selects a male and female representative to be recognized annually by the America East Conference. The winners represent eight different sports and feature two graduate students, nine seniors and five juniors.