Day 1 & 2: Devlin S-AFE Service Trip in New Orleans
22 BC Student-Athletes Travel to New Orleans for the fifth straight year
Junior Collin Fedor

Junior Collin Fedor

Jan. 7, 2014

Twenty two Boston College student-athletes traveled to New Orleans for the fifth annual Devlin S-AFE Service Immersion Trip to rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Each day, a student-athlete will blog about the experience.

Day One & Two: Collin Fedor, Men’s Track & Field

After starting at a brisk 4:40 a,m., we arrived into New Orleans after a long day of travel. After settling into Annuciation, the Mission kind enough to host us, we went to the Lower Ninth Ward. Known by most as the area hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, seeing the devastation was a very sobering experience. Once a thriving and densely populated neighborhood, it was characterized by empty lots and decrepit houses. However, there was a moment of hope and recovery when Jeff Burke [baseball] and Ryan Dunn [soccer] stopped to say hello to the family living in the house they built last year. Seeing them put a smile on everyone’s faces proved the impact of this trip.

We had a quick turnaround as we headed into the exciting French Quarter downtown. Although the visit was short, it didn’t take long to soak in the atmosphere along Bourbon Street.

With an early end to the night, we got off to an early start this morning. Fueled by some excellent homemade pancakes and sausage, we made our way over to the St. Bernard Project to get to work. We’re doing our volunteer the nonprofit started by a couple that visited post-Katrina New Orleans and took the challenge to contribute to this great city’s return to normalcy. St. Bernard has helped create homes for more than 500 families affected by the storm and its aftermath. Our group of 25 was split among two worksites: One assigned to demolition and the other assigned to “finishing touches.” I’m working on finishing touches with more than half of the group.

Despite the cold, working on the site was great! It wasn’t long before we were hard at work. For most of us, it was the first time working on a house like this, but we were quick learners. We attacked the power saw and wielded the nail gun like pros. I was on a team that worked on the base and shoe molding of the bedrooms. The floor laminates are all laid down and the house is actually starting to look like a home! Stephen Sauter [baseball] and Alex Kapp [soccer] made better doors than windowsills, while a few others laid tiles in the bathroom. We worked for a solid four hours and impressed the site manager with our hard work and dedication.

Our dedication didn’t end at the worksite. We went straight to Tulane University where we had the opportunity to get in a workout. The quest for excellence doesn’t take a break! I went for a run with my teammate Shane Constantine around Tulane and soaked in the southern sun. We settled into supper for a New Orleans Monday night classic, red beans and rice. We topped off the night dominating the lanes at Rock N’ Bowl.

It’s been a great trip so far and I’m looking forward to the rest of the week. There’s a huge difference between talking about when the levees broke and seeing right where the cracks were. Eight years later the damage is still obvious, but hope lies in the spirit of these strong people. It’s a great privilege to be able to lend a helping hand and it’s certainly something special to do it with so many BC student-athletes.

Source: http://www.bceagles.com/sports/saac/spec-rel/010714aaa.html

CONWAY, Ark. – Approximately 175 Conway area residents received a new pair of shoes on Sunday, thanks to a combined effort from Samaritan’s Feet, the University of Central Arkansas Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and True Holiness Saints Center.

The event at True Holiness Saints Center was on behalf of Samaritan’s Feet, a national organization that provides shoes to the needy. The event was one of 11 shoe distributions being held across the country for the National Day of Service on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend. In 2013, Samaritan’s Feet held 21 Shoes of Hope events to celebrate the National Day of Service.

Sunday’s recipients, who were pre-chosen from the community, consisted of Conway children, elderly and Bethlehem House residents.

“It was awesome to watch,’ said Natalie Shock, UCA’s assistant athletic director and senior woman administrator who helped coordinate the project. “There was laughter, then sometimes you had to wipe away the tears. Certainly, the people were excited to get new shoes. But I really thought our student-athletes may have gotten as much or more out of the experience than the folks getting the shoes.’

The UCA SAAC, for the past two years, has been involved with Samaritan’s Feet, an organization that strives to give shoes to those in need and has specific programs that work through athletic groups to achieve the organization’s goals. UCA, along with thousands of coaches around the country, has participated in “Barefoot for Bare Feet,” where the basketball and volleyball coaches have coached games without shoes to raise awareness for the cause.

The UCA student-athletes participating Sunday met and interacted with the recipients, helped them select their shoes, washed their feet and then put on their new socks and shoes. The Shoes of Hope events provide unique opportunities for the volunteers to encourage, provide comfort, and share hope with those in need.

Samaritan’s Feet has a goal to hand out 1 million shoes in 10 years.

Source: http://www.southland.org/news/2014/1/15/GEN_0115143012.aspx

Most of the time Alyssa Englert spends with Hartford-area children is spent discussing life lessons and basketball skills. Kids being kids, however, there are some more innocent, less specific questions.

“They want to know what college is like,” said Englert, a senior captain on the Hartford women’s basketball team. “They want to know if I’m really allowed to sleep until 10 in the morning.”
It’s safe to say Englert doesn’t spend many mornings sleeping in or much time sitting around.

“I certainly have a full plate, being a Division I student-athlete,” she said. “Basketball is a very important thing and keeping my grades up is right up there with it. But finding time to give back to people who are so supportive of me, our team and Hartford athletics, and being involved with the youth in the Hartford area, is a way to make our program kind of idolized. We want to be a part of the community and show that we care about the youth coming up.”

Englert is one of 84 women’s basketball players — 52 in Division I — nominated for the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Allstate Good Works Team, which honors student-athletes who have “made significant contributions to the greater good of their communities through volunteerism and civic service … in areas of leadership and charitable achievement among their peers.”

WBCA voting will narrow the 84 nominees to one 10-member team (five from Division I), to be announced in February. In April, the 10 winners will be recognized at the women’s Final Four in Nashville, where they will participate in a community project.

“With Alyssa, it was easy for her to understand the opportunity she was getting [as a student-athlete] and she’s just always been a kid who knows it makes sense to give back,” coach Jen Rizzotti said. “She goes out of her way to be a well-rounded student-athlete. We never have enough [community service] opportunities for her. She represents the program so well, because we want all players to have a grander sense of purpose in life.”

Englert carries at 3.7 GPA and will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in health sciences. She will remain at UHart three more years, working toward a doctorate in physical therapy. Years down the road, maybe back near her hometown of Dansville, N.Y., or in Greater Hartford, she sees herself opening a clinic and maybe coaching basketball.

Englert, a guard averaging 4.9 points and 2.2 rebounds for the Hawks (3-9, 1-0 America East), spearheads many of the community service efforts for her program. She organizes and leads clinics at schools. She speaks to large groups of students. She even baby sits Rizzotti’s young children – which has nothing to do with her WBCA nomination but speaks to the level of trust and respect the coach has for her.

“Alyssa doesn’t do anything because she has to,” Rizzotti said. “She wants the complete experience and she’s never backed down from taking on a bigger load.”

Englert has volunteered time as part of community cleanup crews and visits local hospitals. Through her involvement with the UHart Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, she has had a “buddy” from the University of Hartford Magnet School on campus and spends maybe two days a week with the sixth-grade girl. She was a key organizer for the 2012 Walk For Weaver at UHart, a fundraiser to assist in former Hawk Amanda Weaver’s recovery from colon cancer. More than $45,000 was raised.

And this year like each of the last three, Englert has helped lead the Hawks’ Adopt A Family holiday initiative in partnership with St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center and the Medical Center Giving Tree program. Each player donates about $30 from her own pocket, money that goes toward buying items on a list of needs provided by the family.

This year’s family included a 19-year-old mother of an infant daughter who is also supporting her ailing father and a sister. The family is originally from a refugee camp in Thailand and has been in the United States for five years. The mother is a student at Capital Community College in Hartford and works two part-time jobs.

Englert has developed a bond with many she’s worked with and says her volunteerism comes naturally.

“Just being from a small town, knowing [so many] people by their first name in the community, and having a lot of young girls who came to see me play, I did a lot in high school, too,” Englert said. “I’m always looking to volunteer. And being a senior captain, I kind of take the initiative.”

The Hawks also participate in the breast cancer walk at Bushnell Park every year and hold a women in sports day on campus.

“We got really formal probably four to five years ago, and it’s just become a part of who we decided we wanted to be,” said athletic director Pat Meiser, in her 21st year at Hartford. “The kids we bring here are serious about life. Kids really attack their college experience. If you’re not interested, if you just want to be a great basketball player, you’re coming to the wrong school. We expect student-athletes to give back.”

For a video clip of Englert talking about her endeavors, go to http://www.courant.com/alyssavideo

Source: December 26, 2013|By MIKE ANTHONY, manthony@courant.com, The Hartford Courant

QUEENS, N.Y. – While the holiday break is an opportunity for many of America’s student-athletes to rest up and prepare for seasons ahead, eight Red Storm student-athletes will soon be packing their bags and traveling to the Dominican Republic during their time off to spread St. John’s University’s Vincentian mission and share this special time of year with children in need.

Red Storm women’s soccer student-athletes Kelly Crevani, Casey Marks, Amy Marron and Shelby Halasz, and Red Storm baseball student-athletes Dan Roland, James Lomangino, Bret Dennis and Matt Clancy will be traveling to La Romana, D.R., to volunteer at Orfanato Niños de Cristo, an orphanage that houses more than 165 children from the Dominican Republic and Haiti who have been abandoned or subject to abuse of many forms.

The St. John’s student-athletes will be leaving for La Romana on Jan. 5, and will spend Jan. 7-9 at the orphanage. In a joint effort between the women’s soccer and baseball programs, the Red Storm student-athletes will be leading a soccer clinic on the first day and a baseball clinic on the second day. On Jan. 9, the student-athletes will be cooking meals with the children.

“I am very excited to spend some of the winter break working at the orphanage,” said Roland, a redshirt junior for the Red Storm. “We are all so fortunate to have the opportunity to be St. John’s student-athletes and it is going to be a rewarding experience to give back to those that are less fortunate.”

Serving as guide to the contingent from Queens, N.Y., while in the Dominican Republic will be Crevani, a Rockleigh, N.J., native and freshman goalkeeper for the Red Storm whose family has been involved with the orphanage since 2007. The Crevanis, who sponsor two children from Orfanato Niños de Cristo named Taylor and Yakhira, work with the orphanage several times a year, spending a few days with the children as well as bringing clothes, shoes and toiletries down to the Dominican Republic.

A registered 501(c)(3) organization in the United States, Orfanato Niños de Cristo does not allow children from the orphanage to be adopted, but donors can sponsor children and keep in regular contact with them as well as send them additional items depending on their needs. Together with its donors, Orfanato Niños de Cristo works daily to transform the lives of children by providing a safe and loving environment which will enable them to grow into caring and productive members of the community.

Crevani says her past experiences at Orfanato Niños de Cristo have been some of the most rewarding in her life.

“Working with the orphanage for the past seven years has been contagious,” said Crevani. “The children of the orphanage have become extended family, which we look forward to visiting for special occasions. We receive more from these children than we give. These children teach us far more about life than any experience comparable. We are always greeted with smiles and hugs from their familiar faces, reminding us how happy they are with so little.”

Crevani adds that involving her fellow Red Storm student-athletes in her family’s service in the Dominican Republic was a simple and logical decision.

“Every year, we invite family and friends to join us on our trip to the orphanage,” said Crevani. “St. John’s athletes have become my extended family with whom I want to share this experience.”

Check back on www.RedStormSports.com on Jan. 8-10 to read first-hand accounts from the Red Storm student-athletes as they volunteer at Orfanato Niños de Cristo.

About Orfanato Niños de Cristo
Together with its donors, Orfanato Niños de Cristo is working daily to transform the lives of children by providing a safe and loving environment which will enable them to grow into caring and productive members of the community. Orfanato Niños de Cristo provides the support the children need as part of a responsible family: love, physical, emotional and spiritual support, the nutrition and health care that every child deserves, and a quality education from a school that will provide them the opportunity to optimize their potential. For more information or to become a donor, please visit www.ninosdecristo.org.

Source: http://www.redstormsports.com/genrel/010314aaa.html

The Brentwood Athletic Booster Club will be presented with a $3,000 check today from Team Up 4 Community, a nonprofit that is rewarding student-athletes for completing nearly 8,500 community service hours during the holiday season.

About 800 children in the Brentwood Union Free School District — from the fencing, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, track, football swimming and soccer teams — completed the service hours in a 30-day period between November and December, according to John Rueb, president of the booster club.

The effort was part of the nonprofit’s Long Island Holiday Sports Challenge, where schools in Nassau and Suffolk counties signed up to collectively fulfill 10,000 community service hours.

“There’s a big need in the Brentwood area for help from others from the outside, there’s a lot that are going without,” Rueb said. “It’s nice to see these kids step up for their neighbors and their classmates.”

The volunteers in grades 3 through 12 helped in food, toy, clothing and coat drives, as well as feeding the homeless, coaching younger children and cleaning up courtyards around the neighborhood.

Team Up 4 Community — an international community giveback project with the W20 Foundation, which was started by former New York Islanders’ player Steve Webb — will present the check during halftime at the boys varsity basketball game at the Brentwood High School Sonderling Gymnasium. The game starts at 4 p.m.

The Moriches Youth Lacrosse-Blue Devils also received a grant of $1,500 and Alexis Gonzalez, a Long Island University softball player, received $500.

Source: Newsday: http://www.newsday.com/long-island/towns/long-island-now-1.1732330/community-events-today-and-ongoing-1.6751579