Yasmine Mansi &
Clare McNamara

Yasmine Mansi and Clare McNamara have had amazing careers at the University of Michigan, both on and off the track. Mansi, a senior, competes for the cross country and track and field teams, while McNamara, a graduate student, is also a standout member of the track and field team. Beyond their athletic achievements, both have made a lasting impact through their dedication to their communities.

While competing internationally in Egypt in the summer of 2023, Mansi was inspired.

"I noticed when I was at the start line and competing in an underserved community, many people were barefoot or wearing inadequate footwear," Mansi said. "It really struck me how different that was compared to my experience back in Michigan, where I had access to well-equipped locker rooms and plenty of gear. It made me realize how inequity in resources can impact performance and opportunities for athletes in different communities."

With this realization, Mansi created The SunBundle, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit care-package-based program. The SunBundle creates packages of shoes, clothing, hygiene products and educational resources that they donate to communities in need.

While there are current avenues student-athletes can donate things like clothing to, Mansi realized that it was difficult to find a method specifically for athletic equipment.

“There were a lot of spikes and shoes, different items as student-athletes that we receive that pile up over the years,” said Mansi. “For athletic equipment specifically, there wasn't an avenue that I saw I could upcycle or recycle my shoes to better benefit communities. The inspiration came from seeing inequity firsthand and recognizing resources.”

Mansi founded The SunBundle as a student organization at Michigan and has successfully recruited student-athletes to the cause, benefitting numerous communities. McNamara is one of those student-athletes who has become essential in running the program. The SunBundle primarily helps schools, health centers and homeless shelters.

“We target communities where the shoe sizes can have the best impact. So when it comes to athletic spikes or cleats or different sports, those will be donated to middle school and high school communities,” said Mansi. “And then sneakers will be donated more broadly towards health centers and homeless shelters, where footwear and podiatric care is needed.”

Mansi emphasized that good footwear is essential to preventing diseases and health problems.

“Most diseases or health problems from homeless shelters or underserved communities come from lack of good footwear. That's why we donate those to older communities, in addition to the schools,” said Mansi.

The SunBundle not only directly benefits the communities that receive the care-packages, but it also provides a valuable experience for the people that are a part of it.

”It offers community service opportunities for student-athletes to give back to the community. We'll do care package building events or shoe cleaning events,” said Mansi. “In addition to that, we are working on programming with the kids. Student-athletes would be able to work directly with them, like at a clinic, or work with students to inspire and motivate them to go to school and to take part in sports.”

Mansi emphasized the importance of impacting children and how sports participation can result in higher ambitions for education. The SunBundle also provides educational resources on nutrition, health and hydration.

Mansi and McNamara have enjoyed seeing the effects of The SunBundle on the communities they are helping.

“It's really cool seeing my old track spikes, that would otherwise go to waste, impacting someone's career and being able to see them race that first meet that they wouldn't be able to afford that equipment otherwise,” said Mansi.

“We are in such a place of privilege with all the athletic gear that we get,” McNamara added. “Being able to see that impact firsthand of all the gear that would otherwise just be sitting in our locker room, that's really cool.”

McNamara and Mansi have also loved seeing how the campus community has responded to their efforts with SunBundle.

“I know that a lot of people didn't know what SunBundle was, and we had a meeting with some other athletic organizations on campus,” said McNamara. “People spent like 15 minutes asking questions because they didn't know it existed, and they thought it was so cool that there was an avenue where they could give back to communities.”

The future of SunBundle is bright, as Mansi and McNamara hope to keep it going long after they graduate. Right now, it is a student organization on campus, but they hope to expand across the country.

“More holistically, we are looking to open branches of SunBundle across the Big Ten and the midwest. We do want to create an upcycling culture through different universities to give back to communities more broadly than Ann Arbor,” said Mansi.

Mansi hopes that The SunBundle can become a part of the athletics culture, and encourage student-athletes across the nation to donate their surplus of resources to underserved communities. They want to continue to expand in Michigan, and keep hosting events and having sessions, because they want to help all the communities they can.

Certain events for SunBundle are student-athlete only, but they have events for everyone. If you are looking to be a part of and support The SunBundle there are many avenues to do so. The SunBundle is accepting donations of any kind to help with the costs of their programming and care-packages.

“Any gear can be helpful. Even if your shoes are super worn down and not usable, we recycle those and we can get funding for the organization through those donations,” said McNamara. “Donations are helpful in monetary and physical forms.”

Mansi and McNamara are also looking into engaging with new NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) laws and other organizations for support.

“We do want to tap into the NIL network and the new laws about NIL that are now available for student-athletes,” said Mansi. “There's just so much opportunity within that space, that we're just excited about the potential for success.”

Mansi and McNamara are also looking for alumni and other organizations that feel they fit into SunBundle's mission.

“We're constantly looking for athletic gear to donate but we also try to donate other things like jump ropes and deodorant,” added McNamra. “We've been trying to find companies that donate resources to go into the bundles. That's an area we're still trying to understand and grow in.”

These student-athletes have made it their mission to help the communities they can through the opportunities they have. They are a true representation of the Michigan Difference. For more information, visit thesunbundle.com.