NJIT Men's Basketball Reaches Out to the Community

Highlanders do more than play games and practice during Winter Break

The Highlanders have helped others this winter

Jan. 22, 2008

Lighthouse Community Services Photo Gallery

Children's Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick Photo Gallery

NEWARK, NJ - The NJIT men's basketball team took advantage of the free time afforded by Winter Break to undertake several community service projects.

Getting away to warm vacation spots or heading north to ski is a popular activity for many college students during the mid-December to mid-January break from classes. However, such a getaway is out of the question for Division I college basketball players, who compete in games and practice for a couple of hours on non-game days during the break.

Many of NJIT's athletic teams take part in community service activities and men's basketball coach Jim Casciano has made service an integral part of his programs throughout his 22 years as a head coach, the last seven of which have been at NJIT.

"I am a big believer in helping others and exposing our players to community service so that they will want to help others throughout their lives," said Casciano.

"We want the players to realize how fortunate they are to be in college and be a student-athlete and have their health," said the coach. "When you get out and meet the people we've met, you realize very quickly that there are people who are not as fortunate."

The team undertook three community service projects between the time the Highlanders returned from playing Navy on January 2 and the time it departed for Chicago State on January 18.

At Lighthouse Community Services off of Martin Luther King Drive in Newark, the Highlanders assisted with food preparation at lunch and also put together packages of groceries for delivery to needy people who are unable to leave their homes.

The team also hosted students from the Mt. Carmel Guild School in Kearny. The special needs children from the school came to NJIT's Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center for a practice, got to shoot baskets with and talk to the Highlanders players and then observed a full practice.

Near the end of Winter Break, the Highlanders visited the Children's Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick, where they toured the patient areas and met nurses and patients.

The team has future plans to assist with Special Olympics, the United Way celebrity reading program and the Newark Youth Basketball League, for which the Highlanders plan to offer free basketball clinics.