Mass Maritime Academy Football Team Aids Harvey Victims
BOURNE (CBS) -- The Mass Maritime Academy football team is joining the ranks of people helping out Houston's hurricane victims.
So, they put aside their helmets, cleats, and playbooks and grabbed cartons of water, blankets, and pillows to help hurricane Harvey victims in Houston.
"There's lots of water, Gatorade blankets and anything we can send help to the victims so they can feel some relief," MMA Strong Safety Bobby Gross said.
Typically these guys would be in practice right now, but MMA school officials needed some strong help loading relief supplies on board the T. S. Kennedy. Since time is short, they immediately recognize there is strength in numbers.
Head Coach Jeremy Cameron says it's time to help those in need.
"When people who are less fortunate are in need of help and you're in a position to help you need to stop what you're doing and get it done there is power in our numbers," Cameron said.
Gross says after seeing the devastating images and the lives lost in Houston, jumping into position to help was an easy call.
"Football is our way of life here and this how we got to school, but above all you got to put family first," Gross said.
All of these pallets of goods you see will be loaded onto the TS Kennedy which plans to ship out on Wednesday. It will take six days to get to Houston and it will remain there for at least a month.
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Brad Lima says the ship will be used to help federal workers who are the helpers.
"This will be used to support those people for housing purposes, for FEMA employees this will be a floating dormitory for federal workers"
Both by hand and by crane, MMA is sending a sea of support from some student athletes who made a last minute audible call to help.
"This ship was also used during hurricane Sandy in the releif effort so this is not new to us," Lima said.
"The big picture here is that we are all Americans. It is the nationwide effort right now to help those people. And here at MMA, we are a large family and we got the call and we are on board," Gross said.