Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 11/27/12
For years the Central Bucks East High School boys’ Lacrosse team has served the community in many ways.
The Extraman Service Group (EMO), headed by Coach Rich Garcia and a board of Varsity and Jr. Varsity Lacrosse players volunteer to help service organizations in our community.
In the past, the EMO has volunteered to help organizations such as The Breathing Room Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, The Brain Injury Association of PA, The Travis Manion Foundation and many others others. This month the team participated in three EMO community service events to help those in need.
The first EMO event was a Hurricane Sandy Relief Drive held in conjunction with the team’s Fall Lacrosse meeting. Team and family members collected over 60 cases of water, 12 gallons of bleach and cases of non perishable food items that were sent to Staten Island, NY to help those in need.
In addition, they also collected pet supplies and gift cards for the Animal Alliance in Lambertville, N.J. The Animal Alliance was affected by Hurricane Sandy and the aftermath left them without power for several weeks. Pets are often overlooked during these types of natural disasters. Jr. Tyler Butler organized the relief drive in conjunction with DUMC and BSA Troop 64 in Carversville, PA.
The second EMO event, organized by Coach Rich Garcia and Coach Todd Forman, sent several volunteers to Staten Island, NY, on Friday and Saturday November 23rd and 24th.
The CB East Lacrosse volunteers joined “All Hands Volunteers” (www.hands.org) to help with the removal of storm debris from houses impacted by the storm. All Hands is a US-based non-profit organization that provides hands-on assistance to those impacted in need. The CB East Lax group removed soaked furniture, debris, damaged appliances, drywall and flooring that was damaged by the flooding. Over two days they filled 8 full dumpsters with debris.
Coach Garcia has been volunteering with All Hands since Hurricane Katrina and organizes and leads teams of volunteers in salvaging homes impacted by natural disasters. Last year Coach Garcia took a group of CB East Lacrosse players to Duluth, Iowa to help with the flooding there.
Coach Forman said “the house we worked on was 13 blocks from the water and yet the flood line was 8’ up on the first floor. We had to remove all the drywall up to the ceiling of the first floor.”
Coach Garcia said “if you asked the guy’s I think they would tell you they never could imagine what they experienced.” “Pictures tell one story but boots on the ground tell another. I’m so proud of all of them.”
“I must say in all the projects I’ve been a part of this was one of the worst hit areas I’ve worked on. These were not ideal conditions. It was cold, wet and the houses have been sitting in the dampness for four weeks, many still had standing water in the basements.
“Every piece of furniture and every box we touched was soaked with sea water and had to be carried out”. Participating along with Coaches Garcia and Forman were The Casselli’s (Anthony, Kathleen and Anthony Sr.), Mitch Narkoff, Ryan Cataldo, Brandon Sharman, Brian Cammon and Matt Brown.
The Last EMO event this month was also held on Saturday November 24th in support of The Breathing Room Foundation (www.breathingroomfdn.org). The Breathing Room is a PA-based nonprofit whose mission is to reach out to families with a family member suffering from cancer and provide the family with whatever it is that will allow them a bit of “breathing room” from their daily struggle against cancer.
The Breathing Room reached out to the EMO group and asked for some yard work to be done at homes where no one could do it. The CB East Lax volunteers responded and provided work on three houses located in Warrington, PA and Jenkintown, PA. The group cleared several downed trees (remnants from Hurricane Sandy) and raked leaves.
Participating for CB East were Jeff Kuhn, Zach Kane, Cole Rushworth, Cam Price, Brad Walentukonis, Richard Hartung, Tyler Butler, Will Dempster, Andrew Del Brocco and parent volunteers Kim Hartung, Jack Dempster and Mark Butler. All in all it was a great day of service.
Leave a Reply