April 8, 2013
Photo Gallery
Bronx, N.Y. -
While most students on campus were sleeping in before heading to Edwards Parade to enjoy one of nicest spring days the semester, about 90 Fordham University student-athletes woke up early and spent some time in the sun of the Rockaways, lending a hand those affected by Hurricane Sandy as part of the university's Sandy Solidarity Project.
The Sandy Solidarity Program was established by the office of University Mission and Ministry and the Dorothy Day Center for Service and Justice established and includes Fordham students traveling to the Rockaways to assist the Habitat for Humanity of Westchester in rebuilding the Breezy Point and the Rockaways.
Back in January at the Fordham Breakfast for Champions, the Fordham Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) presented a financial gift to St. Francis de Sales School in Rockaway Beach, a school and parish that was severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy. The gift was doubled by a generous matching donation from the office of University Mission and Ministry and the Dorothy Day Center for Service and Justice, which increased the check amount to $10,000. On Saturday, they made the gift in the form of boots on the ground.
The Fordham student-athletes joined the group from Habitat for Humanity of Westchester, led by Executive Director Jim Killoran, in cleaning up areas hardest hit by Sandy back in October. The student-athletes assisted with clearing debris from houses damaged by the storm, demolishing decks that were ruined and deemed unsafe, hauling drywall to houses that are be renovated and helping one homeowner in clearing out a house left waterlogged by Sandy.
Members of the Fordham women's swimming program provided some engineering assistance, helping to level the front deck of a house that was raised by floodwaters. The women crawled under the deck and dug out the temporary supports in order to let the deck return to its original position. After over an hour of digging in cramped conditions, the Rams found pay dirt as the deck settled, much to the delight of the deck's builder who was on hand to witness the Fordham sandhogs.
But more than providing physical support to those hit hard by Sandy, the student-athletes were also encouraged by Conor O'Kane, Associate Director of Campus Ministry, to interact with the residents and share their stories. O'Kane stressed the importance of understanding the havoc and devastation people of Breezy Point and Far Rockaway experienced, especially now as the storm starts to fade from the headlines and people affected by Hurricane Sandy feel forgotten.
"When you go back to campus, bring the lessons you learned here today with you," said O'Kane at the conclusion of the day. "Share the stories you have been told by the residents with your classmates and reflect on what it meant to the people whose lives you touched today that you were here."
When the buses returned to campus Fordham students could be seen playing on Edwards Parade, basking in the finals hours of a sunny day. But the student-athletes returning from Sandy Saturday were basking in something else, a sense of accomplishment gained by living the Jesuit creed of being "men and women for others".
"When you go on community service events like Sandy Saturday it's important to know that you are not just doing it because it's something that has to be done," head football coach Joe Moorhead told his players the day before the event. "It's an opportunity for you to give back to people who have been through trying times and it's important that though you may have bad days, fighting with your girlfriend or having a paper due, it can't compare to the people who lost everything to the storm."
