Maloof Sports & Entertainment Inside Sales Representative Ta'Tyana McElroy's civic-mindedness brought happiness to children in Ghana and spurned a new locale of Monarchs and Kings fans.

Whether it's helping an elderly person across the street, assisting family or friends with yard work or volunteering personal time to a local homeless shelter, simple acts of selflessness make a huge impact everyday, everywhere.

Raised in the inner-city of Los Angeles, Maloof Sports & Entertainment Inside Sales Representative Ta'Tyana McElroy had an innate passion for two things -- helping the less fortunate and playing sports. And, at a young age, she quickly learned how greatly the two are intertwined."Growing up as an athlete, I learned how powerful and motivating athletics can be," McElroy said. "I grew up in the inner-city of LA so I knew that sports, in a lot of cases, saved a lot of children’s lives by just having that outlet to do something after school, something to motivate them to do well in class or even an avenue to consider going to college."

Armed with that knowledge, McElroy began her philanthropic efforts when she was in high school. She volunteered and helped plan events for MLB charity Reviving Baseball Inner-Cities (RBI). From the positive response of the underprivileged youth at RBI, McElroy knew she wanted to make it a habit to cater to the disadvantaged.

As a standout softball player, it was her abilities on the field, rather than off, that afforded her a scholarship to attend Oregon State University and play softball for the OSU Beavers. But as she did in high school, McElroy used her time away from practices, games and the classroom to make a difference in Corvallis. And with greater resources at OSU, McElroy's reach expanded far beyond her local community.

"At Oregon State, I put on a shoe box drive," McElroy said. "It was through Samaritans Purse's "Operation Christmas Child" that I was able to get all of our student-athletes at Oregon State to save their shoe boxes, and then we filled them with Christmas gifts and sent them to Katrina victims as well as countries in Africa."

After pitching for the Beavers for four years, McElroy graduated from OSU with a degree in Business in December 2007. Maintaining the passion for sports she developed as a youngster in Southern California and took to the collegiate level in the Pacific Northwest, McElroy brought her talents to Maloof Sports & Entertainment in the winter of 2008.

"Definitely learning about the mission and values of our organization drew me to want to work for Maloof Sports & Entertainment," McElroy said. "I always had a passion to give back to the community and to work for a company where they are community-oriented, for example, getting to work on Cesar Chavez day."

Despite her love for her new job, her desire to make a positive impact on society, again, drew her attention to the less fortunate. This time, her goal was broader-reaching -- Ghana -- specifically, the capital city of Accra where her friend, Markeida Smith, was studying abroad at the University of Ghana.

With Smith living in Accra, and McElroy determined to visit, the pair formulated a plan to make McElroy's globe-trotting journey an impactful one. Naturally, they decided an effective way to make a difference would be through athletics. Previously making the most out of shoe boxes, McElroy and Smith decided that shoes, themselves, would make a world of difference to children in Ghana who love to play sports on gravel fields, yet rarely have more than flip-flops, if anything, to compete in. Realizing how philanthropic MS&E is, McElroy hoped that her charitable-minded co-workers would be willing to help her with her endeavor.

"With the help of several of my MS&E co-workers and the shoe drive put on by the softball team at Sacramento High School, I was able to collect 250 pairs of shoes and over $800 for school supplies," McElroy said after admitting, due to her limited time on the job, her co-workers also donated their accrued days-off so that she could make the eight-day trip.

On May 16, McElroy and her eight gigantic bags of luggage took off for Ghana, destined to make hundreds of kids' lives a little easier.

"It was a complete success, being able to make such a big difference by just giving them a pair of shoes and school supplies," McElroy said beaming. "They were so grateful, just to see their faces really made me put things into perspective.

"The greatest thing I took from the experience is that something like this is very easy to do. A lot of people have great ideas but they never act on them, the biggest thing to me was just that if you have all these great ideas to help others – just go for it!”

McElroy also learned Ghanaians were happy to just be alive. And with McElroy's simple gifts, the lives of a few were improved in ways they never dreamed of.

"One thing I thought was sad, I didn’t want these kids to miss out on their childhoods because they had to do so much to help support their families," McElroy said. "We have people who live in poverty in the States but you don’t have to make the choice of buying a pair of shoes or eating. Most kids’ parents here don’t have that dilemma."

Along with the donation of school supplies and used shoes, McElroy was able to leave a lasting impression on the community in two additional ways. First, she helped them plan and develop their athletics so they can continue to play sports after school closed for the summer. And second, she brought Monarchs and Kings memorabilia that inspired a new fan base a world away from Sacramento.

"The kids there didn’t know who the Sacramento Monarchs or Kings were," McElroy confessed. "But now, they will always know who they are."