It has been fifteen days since spring football was postponed at Cal. Fifteen days since the NCAA Tournament was canceled, ending Cal's basketball season. Fifteen days since spring sports were canceled. It has felt like a year, as the fight to stem the spread of COVID-19 continues.

I like to think crisis can bring out the best in people. It can obviously bring out the worst, as seen by the stories of those hoarding toilet paper and hand-sanitizer, spring breakers packing the beaches last week in Florida, and otherwise. But the best has been there, one of those being Cal defensive back Elijah Hicks.

Hicks, who is entering his senior year at Cal, established a non-profit called Intercept Poverty after taking the Sports Tech Challenge Lab course through the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology in the fall. He volunteered at the UC Berkeley food pantry twice a week last fall. With Intercept Poverty being inspired by his own experiences with food insecurity growing up on the east side of Long Beach, Hicks looked to raise money in a time of crisis.

"I understand the platform student-athletes have," Hicks said in a story on CalBears.com. "What better way to get some teammates and fellow players around the Pac who I respect to come together for a certain cause and do this for low-income families. I thought it would be pretty powerful."

Hicks got his teammates together in Cam Bynum and Ashtyn Davis. He got other DBs around the Pac-12 together, in former Washington DBs Myles Bryant and Keith Taylor, Oregon DB Jevon Holland, former Utah DB Terrell Burgess and former Notre Dame receiver Chase Claypool, and they set out to raise money for No Kid Hungry, which helps to provide meals at school and through the summer for those in need. With schools shut down at this point, some of the meals children rely on have been shuttered, and Hicks' efforts are meant to counteract that.

The initial goal was $10,000. Then $20,000. That's where the best came out in another Cal football alum, as current Washington Redskins longsnapper Nick Sundberg kicked in $5,000 to help surpass their second goal. Now the goal is $40,000.

I expect Hicks and company to reach that $40,000 goal, as he's shown the willingness to do the work needed for team success. That was clear even in the truncated spring practice sessions, where Hicks made the move to safety, something that opens up playing time for Chigozie Anusiem and keeps Hicks, one of the Bears' best fundamental tacklers, on the field.

"It's going to prepare me for where I'm trying to go," Hicks said, "it's making me a smarter player as well. I love (the safety spot), I'm a physical guy, I like to come down and hit, but at the same time I can guard the slot, so it's whatever they want me to do, I just like to be around the ball."

Football aside, the shelter-in-place measures will continue, and there will still be a massive need for the meals No Kid Hungry is providing. It'll continue past this pandemic. We'll still need the best in people. Hicks and company will be there for that. He has a community around him (as evidenced by the fundraising efforts) willing to support him. That community is growing.

Amid everything going on right now, these past couple of days have been when high school students find out if they're accepted to UC Berkeley. It's a meaningful thing, as many of the people who have contributed to Hicks' COVID-19 initiative have a strong connection to the school. The school connects people for efforts like this, something that brings out the best in people. Hicks is utilizing it, and it's making a difference in a time that absolutely needs it.