Tar Heel basketball fans can watch the Carrier Classic on the Jumbotron in Carmichael Arena on Nov. 11, while alumni groups around the world will use the event as a time to serve U.S. military veterans.
The game features Carolina versus Michigan State aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in San Diego harbor. After a volleyball match against Georgia Tech at 5:15 p.m., fans can watch the 7 p.m. game. Admission is free for both events. Concessions will be available throughout the evening.
Carolina alumni worldwide will gather in honor of Veterans Day to watch the Heels as well as perform service projects to support the military. UNC alumni clubs perform service projects each fall as part of Tar Heel Service Days.
Among those watching will be alumni in Brazzaville, Congo.
Closer to home, the San Diego Carolina Club will feature a game-viewing party and collect donations in cash and retail gift cards for Homefront San Diego. Homefront provides young military families with food, clothing, cribs and auto maintenance.
Among other alumni clubs’ plans:
• Atlanta alumni will write thank-you notes to military members for their service. Participants also may donate $11 to help local military families during the holidays.
• Baltimore alumni will collect donations and raffle gift certificates from businesses to raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. The foundation provides full scholarships and educational and family counseling to surviving children of special operations personnel who die in operational or training missions, as well as immediate financial assistance to severely wounded special operations personnel and their families.
• Pittsburgh alumni will serve dinner to local Veterans of Foreign Wars members.
• In North Carolina, the New Bern club will hold a raffle to pay for sending a veteran on a trip with Honor Flight of Southeastern N.C. The nonprofit arranges one-day flights for veterans from New Bern to Washington, D.C., to see the World War II memorial and others. On the UNC campus, the Orange and Durham counties club will gather at the Blue Zone event facilities in Kenan Stadium while collecting toiletries and other supplies for the local Veterans Administration hospital.
Published November 7, 2011.