Hurricanes Lend Helping Hand
By Christy Cabrera Chirinos
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – In the days before and immediately after Hurricane Dorian battered the Bahamas, Celine Thompson was glued to both her phone and her television, determined to stay in touch with her family in Nassau and track developments across her entire homeland.
While her immediate family weathered the storm safely, the Hurricanes track standout soon learned some relatives and close friends weren’t as fortunate, their homes destroyed and some relatives lost.
The stories she heard, the images she saw left Thompson feeling heartbroken – and helpless.
She soon channeled those emotions into Bahamas relief efforts here in South Florida.
Over the course of the last 10 days, Thompson and several other members of Miami’s Student-Athlete Development Office have collected everything from water, diapers, canned goods, baby formula and clothing as part of an athletic department-wide hurricane relief drive.
Thompson and track teammate Xavier Coakley, who also hails from the Bahamas, also worked with members of UM’s on-campus Bahamian Students Association, the Multicultural Students Association and the Caribbean Students Association to gather more donations.
Friday morning, those supplies were picked up by officials from the Coral Gables Fire Department, which delivered them to a central processing site that is collecting and sorting donations from across Miami-Dade County before everything is delivered to the Bahamas.
“There’s so much devastation back home. What could I really do? This has meant a lot and the support has been a bit overwhelming,” Thompson said. “We all kind of coordinated efforts and [Thursday], everyone came up to help us pack everything. It was just so nice to see all the teamwork and support.”
For Coakley, whose aunt lost her home in the storm, the relief drive has felt especially personal.
“What happened in Abaco is just heartbreaking. I did as much as I could on my own after some friends asked me to buy things and send them home, but like I said, it’s been heartbreaking,” Coakley said. “This has really been a heartwarming gesture and I feel appreciative because people didn’t have to do this. My teammates, other student-athletes and even students that aren’t athletes have all come to lend a hand and I’ve extended my gratitude toward them. Even though this may not seem like a lot, it goes a long way and the thought helps. Being able to be in a position to help and then see the help has meant a lot to me.”
The on-campus effort to collect relief supplies isn’t the only way Miami athletes have stepped up to help after Dorian.
Members of the football team showed solidarity with the islands by wearing decals bearing the Bahamian flag on their helmets during the Hurricanes’ ACC opener against North Carolina this past Saturday.
And earlier this week, the Hurricanes men’s basketball team spent several hours at Christ Episcopal Church in Coral Gables helping sort and pack donations being sent to the Bahamas.
The historic church located in the heart of Coconut Grove was founded by Bahamian immigrants and has been actively working to not only collect donated supplies that will be delivered to Grand Bahama, but to comfort hurricane evacuees who have come to South Florida after the storm.
“As a team, as a culture, ever since I’ve been here at UM, we’ve always tried to be as involved in the community as we could be,” center Rodney Miller, Jr. said. “Once we heard about the situation in the Bahamas, we started collecting whatever supplies we could send over there. Once we learned the church was collecting supplies and they needed help packaging everything up, in any way we could help, we wanted to help.
“It was really personal for us. Personally, I have friends in the Bahamas. And even with Hurricane Irma two years ago, we went to Atlanta for two weeks and when we came back to campus, campus was beat up. Power was out. I can only imagine what the people in the Bahamas have gone through with the flooding and everything that’s happened. We felt a sense of urgency to help.”
In addition to what the athletic department has done, the University has launched a Hurricane Dorian Response Fund that is collecting financial donations to help with humanitarian and medical efforts across the Bahamas. Fans attending Saturday’s football home opener against Bethune-Cookman will be reminded of the fund’s efforts throughout the game.
And on Friday, after Miami’s student-athletes had helped load the supplies they’d collected, there were lots of smiles and a few pictures, not only with the firefighters who came to help but the firetruck they brought with them.
“I think we stepped up in a great way,” said Shirelle Jackson, Miami’s Senior Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Development. “I was overwhelmed by the athletic department and our student-athletes, what they were able to provide. What I love about the University of Miami, in terms of a community, is that we really operate as a collective. This wasn’t a thing where I said ‘I hope we get donations.’ As soon as I got back to my office, stuff was there. … And not only did our student-athletes give back on a global scale, I think [Friday] we got to see them be students, climbing in the fire truck, taking selfies and learning the importance of what firefighters mean to this community.
“I’m just very proud of our student-athletes and our staff today.”
