Last week, Hurricane Ian ravaged southwest Florida, making landfall as a Category 4 storm and one of the strongest hurricanes in history to hit Florida.
The storm hit particularly close to home for one member of the Florida Atlantic University softball team. Riley Ennis, a senior member of the Owls, is from Fort Myers and her family was in the direct path of the storm.
“All I was thinking about was if my parents were ok,” Ennis said. “Fort Myers has been my home. That’s where I’ve always lived, so I knew that the impact would be detrimental to my heart. But in the end, all I wanted was for my parents to be ok. Here today, days later, they are ok, and that’s all that matters to me.”
After Hurricane Ian swept through Florida and left catastrophic damage to the Fort Myers community, Jordan Clark, FAU head softball coach, knew her team had to step in and help Riley’s family and so many others like them, who were in desperate need of help.
“The week was filled with so many emotions seeing our home state hit hard,” Clark said. “Knowing that we had players whose families were directly affected by Hurricane Ian, we decided to cancel practice Sunday and find ways to help in any way we could.”
That morning, the Owls softball team gathered bright and early and traveled to Fort Myers to lend a helping hand in the cleanup and rebuilding efforts. The Owls bought and donated thousands of dollars’ worth of essential supplies such as water, gas, diapers, food, batteries and flashlights to distribute to those in need.
Once the team arrived in Fort Myers, the day began with an emotional moment for Ennis, one that she will remember forever. It was the first time she had seen her parents since Hurricane Ian hit.
“Seeing my parents was very emotional,” Ennis said. “I was so grateful when I got out of the car and I saw my Mom and Dad running towards me. Seeing my parents was all that mattered in that moment. It was a crazy feeling to be able to hug my Mom and my Dad after that hurricane. I’m grateful that they were ok and that our house is ok. I’m grateful they are ok and that my teammates and coaching staff was here to support me during this.”
Once the Owls’ caravan made its way into the Fort Myers community, the team got right to work, removing downed tree branches, debris, flood water, wreckage – anything that was in the way.
“It leaves you almost speechless when you see it,” Clark said. “We were pulling into the neighborhood, and everyone was just looking at all of our cars coming through, we were seven cars deep. Just to see that our groups were ready to work, and just to see that when we were helping someone go into their house for the first time since the hurricane and they were completely embracing us. We were hugging strangers. We were seeing tears, emotions, anger, sadness, so many things packed into one that a lot of our girls hadn’t experienced before. To see (them experience this through the) eyes of someone else and to see their pain and feel that emotion of them, it was something that I’ll never forget.”
The Owls loaded up trucks and cars with the much-needed essential items. Whatever the victims of Hurricane Ian needed, the Owls were there to do. The team even helped clear debris and wreckage to enable a few citizens to get into their home for the first time since Hurricane Ian hit.
One home was unable to be entered because a dock had floated from the backyard to the front, blocking the front door. The Owls were able to clear the dock out of the way and allow access to the home.
“To know that we helped someone get into their house for the very first time since the storm, that will stick with me,” Clark said. “I think the other piece of it was going into someone’s house with them and seeing water up to their knees, you’re helping clear that water out to see that everything that they loved is wet and ruined. We asked ‘How do we help them rebuild their life?’ We think we gave them a little bit of hope and a little bit of opportunity.”
The efforts of that day that the Owls gave left a glimmer of hope and a lot of gratitude from a community that was in desperate need of some positivity.
“To see the emotion throughout the day was impactful,” Clark said. “We were getting text messages (from) people saying how we helped them so much. Seeing those and seeing people’s posts on Facebook is something that I’ll never forget.”
For one day, the FAU softball program was able to reach out a helping hand to an ailing community. For Clark, it goes back to the life lessons that she is looking to teach to her team.
“I am so thankful for the platform that FAU Athletics gives us,” Clark said. “To be able to represent something that is bigger than ourselves, and to see that we are better in the power of a unit than the power of one was so special. I know that the people we helped Sunday are going to support us just like we supported them. I’m proud to be a part of an athletic department that allows us to go help out like this. This shows you that it is more than just softball. We are building life lessons. As coaches, as much as we want to win games, we know that we are winning off the field when our girls can make an impact on people’s lives like they did on Sunday.”
