They say that charity begins at home. But in the case of the Glendale Raptors, charity starts in the community, and helping wherever they can in the name of rugby is the mindset behind the Raptors Community Program introduced in January 2011.

Since its inception at the start of this year, the Glendale Raptors have acquitted themselves in over 400 hours of various community projects. These projects have ranged from delivering meals to people with terminal illnesses, running rugby clinics for members of the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, making cards with advocates from Mile High Down Syndrome Association and participating in activities with families of Childrens Hospital patients — to just to name a few.

Emily Daniels, director of promotions at Infinity Park and the brainchild behind the Raptors community program, says of the program, "we participate in community projects to create awareness for our Raptors rugby program and to fulfill sponsorship commitments.

"We would welcome any opportunities that would mutually benefit our program and that of the parties interested in our involvement in their community project," continues Daniels.

"However, it is important that we generate community awareness and not just provide manual labor for a project," adds Daniels.

The Raptors players are willing participants in the community program for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, they believe in giving back to the community that has supported them over the past five years and watched them grow from a fledgling rugby club to the Division I champions in 2011.

The Raptors players are rewarded for participating in community projects in the form of travel credits. As rugby is still an amateur sport in the U.S. and sponsorship is limited, the players typically have to pay their own travel expenses to away games. Travel credits are a great incentive for the players to get involved in the community and at the same time do something for themselves.

With 2012 fast approaching, the Raptors are feverishly getting their community project program finalized and from all accounts, it appears that there are many interesting things in store for the community and players.