Going after Stillman, Druce, & O’Toole

Targeting the Past Success to improve the future for Women in their fight with Cancer-related illnesses. The three past chairs of this event mentioned above have set a high bar. With a couple of weeks until the Petes once again host the Pink in the Rink event on Saturday, February 6th, its time to ramp up the pledges, and if you click my link you can see I have some work to do. In the competitive environment, we all grew up in. I would love nothing more than to crush the past totals. All in good fun, but again this is definitely for something bigger than the bragging rights. Now I will admit., We have a team of former Petes involved, 7 in total. One from each decade representing the 60 yrs of Petes’ History. 50s Pat Casey, 60s Wayne Boddy, 70s Greg Theberge, 80s Jody Hull, 90s Steve Webb, 2000s Jeff MacDougald, 2010s Dylan Wells. So we should be able to do it.

I recall being back in town at the Mem Centre when Peterborough was celebrating Hockey Day in Canada and witnessing what Cory and Mara Stillman and their Family accomplished that night was very moving. From a distance, I followed John Druce’s story with his daughter and efforts he put in when he chaired the Pink In the Rink event and I was in constant contact with Dan O’Toole when he was involved as Chair last year. All of these gentlemen made commitments to this event and did their part to find a potential cure.

I am forever grateful to call these men friends. All have affected my life and others in a positive way. From learning how to train like an NHLer from Cory to spending some hard miles on the bike with Drucer while raising funds for others, to a friend in O’Toole who has been by my side along this journey we call life. One of the things we definitely were not looking to have in common was the effect cancer has had on the people closest to us.

This disease is a different experience for all that are affected. There are survivors and those that have should take a bow for being an example to others, showing that you can win this fight. We also witness families with young children struggling to understand why they have this disease. From nurturing mothers to loving sisters, the amazing aunt that brightens every room she walks in with her laughter and smile. It’s all different, but still the same.

No one can explain to us the rhyme or reason why our families were chosen to go through these fights, but we have been and that’s real. It does however set up the opportunity to put the gloves on or off (your choice) and stand up to fight for the possibility of a cure.

With events like Pink in the Rink, together as a community, we may be able to make improvements for our future generations. We will never know unless we give the people working on defeating this disease the necessary tools to continue the search for a cure.

Please assist this year’s 7 Co-Chairs in Crushing the Past Pink In the Rink events by clicking on the link attached. It all counts. $1-$1000 and everything in between will help in making a difference.

Thanks guys for setting the bar so high.

See You Saturday, Feb. 6th at the Mem Centre.

Please contribute to any of this years Co-Chairs by visiting: www.pinkintherink.ca

Stony Brook Womens Basketball had a great time playing with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club of Suffolk County this past week.

They offer comprehensive programming in the following areas; Character & Leadership, Education & Career, Health & Life Skills, The Arts, Sports, and fitness.

To learn more please visit: http://www.bgcsuffolk.org/

Stony Brook, N.Y. – The Stony Brook Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) was involved in numerous community service efforts during the fall semester, including a fall food drive, Stuff-a-Bus holiday toy drive and a breakfast with the League of Yes.

Fall Food Drive

Led by SAAC Event Specialist Sam Jaffe, the SAAC collected over 1,000 items during the months of October and November and donated the collection to the Stony Brook University On-Campus Food Pantry. SAAC members and their teammates collected food items at local grocery stores. The food drive was in collaboration with the “AE Food Frenzy”, an America East SAAC Initiative aimed to create community and connection across the conference institutions. Each school collected canned goods and delivered a box to an America Easr partner school to be delivered to a local charity of choice.

As an event specialist on the executive board in SAAC, I was responsible for leading and delegating all responsibilities to run an effective food drive. I developed strategies to collect canned goods such as talking to local store managers for donations, assigning volunteers to stand outside of supermarkets to collect from customers, and from there we loaded up the van and dropped it off at the food pantry.

It is important to me to be involved in initiatives like the Fall Food Drive as a student-athlete because I know that nutrition is important and athletes need the proper foods to stay fit and healthy. As an athlete, it is great to give back to the community, and show what athletes do off the field.

– Sam Jaffe, Women’s Lacrosse

League of YES Breakfast with Santa

Student-athletes from women’s tennis, baseball, women’s lacrosse, softball and women’s soccer volunteered as buddies at the League of YES Breakfast with Santa on Dec. 5.

The League of YES mission is to establish and sustain baseball programs for people of all ages and disabilities. Buddies are there to protect the players from balls, assist the players in batting and running the bases, and to be a friend of and off the field. The Stony Brook University Athletic Department was awarded a community service award during halftime of the men’s basketball game on Dec. 5 in appreciation for the dedication of the hard work and dedication to the League of YES.\

“One of the most iconic lines from the movie Elf is Will Ferrell screaming ‘It’s Santa!’ If one could imagine 20 children who are anxiously waiting for Santa to come on Christmas receive an early surprise from him at the League of YES breakfast, it is the same reaction. At the League’s Breakfast with Santa, a customary part of the organization is to allow every child a chance to bat. They say that every picture is a thousand words but the photos of every student athlete running, tagging, or walking the bases with their buddy gives one the idea that there is good in this world. One might not know it but these children are what put smiles on every single person that day because they were able to laugh so much and have fun. All these little kids wanted to do was run around, throw a baseball, and be loved by even more people.”

– Nichole Doran, women’s lacrosse

Stuff-a-Bus Holiday Toy Drive

Seawolf student-athletes took part in a holiday toy drive for patients at the Stony Brook pediatric oncology center. The Stony Brook SAAC, in conjunction with the athletic marketing department and Clare Rose, collected gifts to deliver to the children in late December.

“As our school and department has grown so has Stuff-A-Bus. It isn’t just about donating gifts to the children’s hospital anymore. The nurses told us my freshman year how much the kids look forward to us coming because for however long we are there, their pain is not there because we are helping them heal. For me, that is where it truly hit me how much we as student-athletes mean to the community.”

– Nichole Doran, women’s lacrosse

“Clare Rose is a proud local Long Island Company that has established strong ties to the Community, businesses and most importantly the people on the Island. Partnering with Stony Brook around such a heartfelt initiative gave our organization a great opportunity to give back to those who need it the most, at a time that matters the most. We would like to truly thank Stony Brook for allowing us to participate in the toy drive and look forward to expanding on similar opportunities to give back to the local community throughout 2016.

Finally, we all have different tasks and goals when it comes to business, however, the truest reward is being able to mobilize a team to do some good!”

– Matthew Holthaus, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Clare Rose

The Environmental Club at Robert Moses Middle School in the North Babylon School District participated in Reuse-A-Shoe, a community service project sponsored by Nike.

The club collected pairs of outworn athletic sneakers throughout the school to donate to the cause. As part of the program, Nike grinds these shoes down and uses the material for surfaces such as tracks, playgrounds and tennis courts.

Community representatives commended the club for its outstanding efforts.

Photo Caption: Robert Moses Middle School’s Environmental Club participated in Reuse-A-Shoe.

Photos courtesy North Babylon School District

On Saturday, November 21, 2015, the Boys Varsity Basketball Team traveled to the Salvation Army in Hempstead, New York. Coach McCutcheon and Coach Lyons wanted the team to experience what life was like for some of the less fortunate people in the area and that there were more important things than basketball.

The team arrived at the Salvation Army at 9 a.m. Players brought “lightly used” clothing to distribute to the poor and helped serve food to the needy.

Breakfast was being prepared as the Firebirds walked in, so the ball players got to work right away, moving boxes of donated food and clothes and helping out in the kitchen serving breakfast and lunch to the hungry.

According to several team members, the most eye-opening experience was serving food. It was a humbling experience for the team in the sense that the people being served were living on the streets and did not know when their next hot meal would be. Some might not have eaten in several days. When seconds were called, the line grew even longer and some people went up and got even more food after that.

“It was truly an eye-opening experience for the whole team,” junior Mike Geisweller stated, “Working at the Salvation Army showed me not to take advantage of everyday life.”

Said senior Cleevens Lans, “Even just waking up in the morning, showering and having breakfast was a blessing to most of the people there. Some came for the food and clothes, but others just came to take a shower. Thing we do every day are things some people don’t get to do. It really made me appreciate everything I have.”
Although some of the work was labor intensive, working there put a smile on everyone’s face.

To a man, the team asserted that the most rewarding element of Saturday’s “workout” was the joy of the people. Countless “thank yous” convinced the young men that their generous service giving time to help out was a victory unachievable on any court.

“Praise was the last thing we needed but it was nice to see how thankful they were,” said Lans.

The Varsity Basketball Team’s trip to the Salvation Army was an unforgettable experience. It will be a topic of conversation and a solidifying bond for the entire season and perhaps even in the years to come.

Geisweller remarked, “Hopefully we left a lasting mark on the many less fortunate people we helped that day, just as they have left a lasting mark on us.”