Posted: 11/23/2011
By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Media Relations
This summer’s one-two punch of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee made its mark on the East Coast, leaving buildings destroyed due to winds and flooding. For Lehigh softball senior Tenley Halaquist, it hit close to home. With her town of Windsor, N.Y. battered by flooding, Halaquist took action to help her hometown, while also helping spread the Lehigh name.
“It was heartbreaking that my town was flooded and I think it bothered me the most because I wasn’t there to help,” said Halaquist. “I went home to help my sister and they were pumping out water. A bunch of other houses were still flooded and they couldn’t get in until probably a week later.”
Halaquist’s hometown is located just 16 miles east of Binghamton, which received historic flooding as well. Windsor was also flooded in 2006, but luckily for Halaquist, her house wasn’t damaged either time since she lives on a mountain.
“It happened the same way this year as it did in 2006,” she said. “It ran off the mountain; it was a little river, but it just missed our house. We were really thankful.”
It all started towards the end of August when Hurricane Irene struck the East Coast. Then, Tropical Storm Lee followed barely over a week later. The ground was saturated as is, especially after Irene, but it was Lee that seemed to push everything over the top.
“I remember my mom telling me it wasn’t going to be good,” said Halaquist. “I was praying for everyone, but it didn’t work out well. It was sad because after 2006, they redid the flood zone and a bunch of the houses that were flooded weren’t in the flood zone, so people didn’t have flood insurance; they literally lost everything.”
Halaquist is heavily involved with the C.O.A.C.H. program at Lehigh (Community Outreach by Athletes who Care about Helping), and has done incredible work in the community, so once again she decided to take action… this time, to help her hometown.
“I wanted to raise money, but we do a lot of that with Adopt-A-Family,” said Halaquist. “A number of people lost everything, and I know with softball, we always have extra T-Shirts from camps. So I sent out an email to the coaches and asked if they had any extra sweatshirts, T-Shirts, shorts or even things like soccer balls or basketballs to donate.
“These people don’t have any brand new clothes,” she continued. “I just wanted to do something for the community, and to let them know that someone else cares about them, not just people around them in New York. A school in Pennsylvania cares. I also wanted to get the Lehigh name out there.”
The response by the Lehigh Athletic Department was impressive as a number of teams donated everything from T-Shirts to sweatshirts to even soap, shampoo and shaving gel.
“I took everything, made goodie bags and gave those to the school, just so the kids would have something,” said Halaquist. “What hit me the most was [when] my sister was at the Laundromat - she lost her washer and dryer because it was in the basement. She met this lady there; she was with her husband and her child. They were living in their van with their dog. The only clothes that the daughter had were her pajamas that she was taken out of her house in.
“That’s why I went with clothes,” Halaquist continued.
Now that everything was collected, the next step for Halaquist was delivery. She was thinking about going to churches, which were holding dinners, but they weren’t accepting clothes because of the overwhelming response. People were just dumping used clothes that would need to be laundered. Even though what Halaquist gathered was brand new, she had to look to another route.
“We just went around to the worst places. Once in Vestal, we turned our SUV into a little shop,” she said. “There was a tent where people were eating. They’d come over to the truck, and I’d ask what size they need; it was like a little store.”
Throughout the experience, there was one moment Halaquist will never forget. It was with one woman and her two children.
“I asked if she wanted anything,” said Halaquist. “She was like ‘no, no, I’m ok. I just want my kids to have it.’”
Halaquist went into her truck anyway and started pulling out shirts. She pulled out capris donated by men’s soccer and handed them to her.
“She was like ‘you’re an angel sent from God,’” said Halaquist. “She started crying and gave me a big hug. That’s when it hit me how much I was really helping these people.”
The damage was truly unimaginable, so what Halaquist brought to the area, more than even tangible T-Shirts or sweatshirts or sweatpants, was hope.
“When we were driving around, there was a big sign on one of the places that got flooded that said something like ‘we will not surrender. We will always have hope,’” said Halaquist.
In the end, there were 75 houses condemned in Twin Orchard and Vestal, 24 in Conklin where residents can’t go back to live. About 2,400 homes in the country were either condemned or will take up to two years to fix.
“A bunch of people took a sheet of paper and wrote ‘for sale’ and stuck it on their houses,” said Halaquist. “It was really sad.”
In a time of disaster, there are always positives that arise, and in Lehigh’s case, it’s true through both Halaquist and the coaching staff’s efforts.
“We were collecting in Roseann [Corsi’s] office and she would text me with updates,” said Halaquist. “It was a pretty quick response. I sent out an email two weeks before pacing break and then the week of pacing break. My mom took the first load because we had games, then I had a full trunk load too as well.
“The coaches were really great,” continued Halaquist. “I got a bunch of emails back saying, ‘I know this is hard, but I hope this helps.’ They were all really caring and I thank them a lot.”
Halaquist found time for the community service initiative between her hectic softball schedule. The 11-time Patriot League Champions have their goals set high as they prepare for their spring campaign.
“We all really mesh together,” she said. “What I really like about the fall is that I get to figure out what I need to work on during our offseason. We all have little tweaks to do, but we had a great fall overall.
“As a senior, I kind of take on the mom role; I like to look after the underclassmen,” continued Halaquist. “I’m really close to the freshmen. I go over the mountain and do extra swings when no one’s there. I’m trying to make this the best senior season possible.”
Regardless of how the year plays out, the Lehigh student-athlete is much more than just an athlete; the Mountain Hawks are excelling in the classroom and truly making a difference in people’s lives. Halaquist personifies that.
“Community service is really important,” she said. “I love doing C.O.A.C.H. activities. It’s a little upsetting during season because we’re always on the go. Usually, we go right from class to practice and we don’t have free time to do activities like this. I try to get my fill of helping out in the fall.”