On the 20th trip coordinated by the Hope for Stanley Alliance, seventy students, faculty, and alumni from the University of Central Florida’s DeVos Sport Business Management Program worked on home rebuilding projects in the Greater New Orleans area in partnership with the St. Bernard Project from August 17 - 20. The out-of-state volunteers helped rebuild eight homes in various phases of repair located across St. Bernard Parish and New Orleans’s Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood.

The trip was the largest ever coordinated by the Hope for Stanley Alliance. The UCF contingent contributed a total of 1,725 hours of service to New Orleans - equivalent to one person working 40 hours per week for 43 weeks toward rebuilding homes. Volunteers worked on projects involving drywall, mold remediation, insulation, trim work, and painting. The trip marked the first rebuilding projects by the St. Bernard Project in the Lower Ninth Ward as a result of a partnership with the Hope for Stanley Alliance. In addition, a tour of the Lower Ninth Ward was taken by a group of volunteers where they learned about the ongoing relief efforts and history of the Lower Ninth Ward. Read More...

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The Hope for Stanley Alliance has partnered with Sports for a Cause, a non-profit foundation focusing on the rebuilding of schools and playgrounds in the New Orleans area. Sports for a Cause was founded by Brandon Tosti and Kieran Cain, both sport administrators for Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids. Recently, Hope for Stanley located a recipient and delivered soccer equipment donated by Sports for a Cause. The Jesuit High School boy's soccer team and Lakeview Soccer Academy were recipients of brand-new cleats, socks, shin guards and pennies. The donation was made by Sports for a Cause which has also donated 1,000 Little League uniforms to the New Orleans Recreational Department (NORD).

Thanks to the donation of Krista Prestigiacomo of Nike, Hope for Stanley was able to deliver 35 baseball and softball cleats to the Warren Easton Senior High baseball and softball teams. The donation was received by Coach Steven Costa, athletic director at Warren Easton. If you would like to make a donation of sporting equipment for New Orleans schools and clubs, please contact Hope for Stanley.

The University of Central Florida DeVos Sport Business Management Program won the 2009 TeamMBA Service Award for Volunteer Engagement. Since 2007, the Hope for Stanley Alliance, a non-profit organization founded by students in the DeVos program, has given 650 volunteers the opportunity to rebuild the homes and lives of New Orleans residents affected by Hurricane Katrina. Last August, MBA students contributed more than 1,100 hours toward rebuilding homes.
DeVos has been sending volunteers to the Lower Ninth Ward every winter, spring and summer break since December 2006.

Most of the volunteer work has been done by DeVos students, but the program has also drawn student volunteers from other schools as well as from Tuesday’s Children, a group of kids who lost parents in the September 11 World Trade Center attacks. “It was a very powerful experience for the Katrina victims and the children of 9/11,” said Richard Lapchick, chair of the DeVos Program.

DeVos students volunteer for Katrina relief on top of the 42 hours of service work they are required to do each semester in central Florida. “I think everybody was struck by the failure of the government to respond,” Lapchick said of the response in the Gulf Coast. “We were struck by need of the people, but also struck by spirit of the people. Everyone is hopeful.”Read More.

The annual TeamMBA Award program recognizes schools that exemplify a commitment to social responsibility through the actions of their students and the school's demonstrated support of these efforts. It is presented by the Graduate Management Admission Council. Read More...