[StBernard] Redlands football team joins relief efforts in Gulf Coast

[Westley Annis]

Redlands football team joins relief efforts in Gulf Coast 
 
July 25, 2006

By Amy Farnum
NCAASports.com Staff Writer      

Since Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Mississippi
and Alabama last August, several collegiate athletic teams have lent a hand
in the relief effort. 

Although it has been months since the disaster, there are still countless
hours of work to be done, leaving several members the University of Redlands
football squad to keep asking their head coach how they could help. 

Head coach Mike Maynard admittedly did not have a good answer for his
players at the time, but when the school's Director of Community Service,
Tony Mueller, approached the 18-year veteran about taking the team to help
the ravaged area, he immediately liked the idea. 

Redlands secured funding from the Reid Foundation to make the trip possible,
and then rallied to sign up 55 football players for the journey to aid the
citizens of St. Bernard's Parish in Louisiana. Student-athletes coordinated
their academic schedules, and almost any player without a prior commitment
was on board. The university encourages community service and requires 80
hours of volunteering before graduation. 

The school then contacted various relief organizations offering the team's
time, energy and strength, and the Hilltop Rescue Organization welcomed the
large group of brawny football players with open arms. In May, the team
packed up for two weeks, flew to New Orleans and rented vans for
transportation. 

"We stayed in the Ninth Ward in a town called Chalmette, La., (2 miles from
New Orleans) at a wiped out middle school that had been flooded and
abandoned," said Maynard. "The Hilltop Rescue Organization had taken over
the facility, and the top floor was not too bad. We were able to set up cots
in the old classrooms upstairs. 

"They had showers and bathrooms, and somewhat of a functioning kitchen area.
Most of the time, we ate cereal, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We
didn't go there for gourmet eating, and the kids adapted really well and I
was proud of them." 

Not knowing exactly what their jobs would be before they got to the area,
the team was charged with mucking out houses - buildings that had not be
touched in the eight months since Katrina struck. 

"There was generally 8-10 inches of mud in most of the homes, so we would
scoop out the mud and take out all of the possessions - every stuffed
animal, every TV, every couch," said Maynard. "We found refrigerators on the
second floor that had floated up. Most of the homes had flooded with 8-10
feet of water, and then sat vacant for up to eight months, so you could
imagine the smell and the mess. It was pretty horrible." 

The student-athletes split up into groups and stripped the homes down to the
studs, leaving only the wiring and basic frame of the house when they were
finished. 

"We did 46 homes in two weeks, and were really proud of that," said Maynard.
"We approached it like everyday was game day. We attacked these homes, and
took very few breaks. We had an unwritten rule that no one went back to our
home base, until everyone was done. Most of the time, we would end up with
all of the groups at the last home finishing up. It was a real team effort."


Maynard was especially impressed by how each of his players took on
different tasks, without a lot of verbal communication. While some were good
at scooping out mud, others excelled knocking down walls, and in the end,
they made big strides for the community. 

"In terms of team bonding, working together, and character and relationship
building, I can't think of anything that would have done more," said
Maynard. 

Maynard believes the relief effort peaked awareness about community among
his players after they experienced the devastation first-hand. 

"We created a really long-lasting and positive attitude towards community
service (among the student-athletes)," said Maynard. "We have 55 guys who
now have much softer hearts for helping others. I think now they understand
that if they have the ability to help, then they should." 

Redlands opens its football season at home against Whitworth College on
Sept. 9. The Hilltop Rescue Organization can be contacted through its web
site, www.hilltoprescue.org.