Freshman Omari Lawrence was sound asleep on the team bus when it pulled up in front of the St. Johns Bread & Life Soup Kitchen in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
I couldnt believe how long the line was, said Lawrence, a freshman from the Gun Hill section of The Bronx. I know some people who have had to wait on line for a meal or didnt have enough to pay. To see the smile on their faces, it was an honor, to do this.
Yes, for a program that has had its share of shame, the honor belonged to St. Johns yesterday.
After a 7:30 a.m. practice they exchanged their headbands and jerseys for hair nets and aprons and served some 1,500 Thanksgiving dinners to the poor and homeless.
This was the 13th consecutive Thanksgiving the Red Storm have done donated its time, but in light of the economic climate, it has never been more important. According to the annual survey of food pantries and soup kitchens, 55.3 percent of city agencies do not distribute enough food to meet demand.
In this country, I just cant believe with the resources we have that were going to allow people to go hungry, said Brooklyn congressman Ed Towns. To see these college players here gives me hope that more people will get involved.
There were families with children. There were groups of men, one of whom kept sneaking looks at his plate, his eyes darting about to make certain no one would take his bounty. There was another man wearing a Carolina blue cap but instead of the UNC logo was a $.
There was a single mother who instructed her daughter to bus their tray and dispose of their garbage, though there were players and coaches handling that task as well.
You can imagine what Im thinking and feeling, said the woman, as a tear slid toward the corner of her eye. Truly a blessing.
Win. Graduate. Serve. Those are the three tenets of the St. Johns program.
This is what St. Johns is all about giving back, said forward Rob Thomas of Harlem, who grew up in poverty. I could easily be on the other side of this line. My mother sometimes would have to get some food from a pantry, but she always made Thanksgiving dinner. When I told her we do this, she was so proud.
There is real pride in the St. Johns program for the first time in the Norm Roberts era. The Red Storm are off to a 3-0 start with a chance to wake the echoes this weekend. They play Siena (3-1) tomorrow in the Philly Hoop Group Classic and Temple (3-1) on Saturday. Both those programs were in the NCAA Tournament last season.
This is the most important thing well do today, Roberts said. Some of these people are here because of unfortunate circumstances, but some are here because they didnt make good decisions in life, in school. They cant learn this at practice.