When speaking to her freshman seminar class about civic engagement on November 5, 2007, Cassie Iacovelli, assistant dean of campus life, was reminded of a story she had read earlier that morning in the Bucks County Courier Times about a single mother, Michelle Koch, who had recently died, causing her parents, Ruth and George Gordon, to assume responsibility for their five grandchildren.

At the time, the couple was living in an apartment too small for five children, so they quickly took out a mortgage and bought an affordable handyman special located in Lower Bucks County that was large enough to handle their new family of seven, but was in need of much repair.

The story struck a chord. When standing in her class thinking about the story, Iacovelli thought, “What a great way to show students the true meaning of civic engagement.”

“The story touched my heart,” Iacovelli said, “I walked into class that day knowing I had a mission – to help make the lives of that family a little easier.” After speaking with her freshman seminar group and several other groups on campus, Iacovelli soon realized that, in typical Rider fashion, the students quickly embraced her quest for civic engagement. “The students were so generous, so sincere and so quick to take action.” Iacovelli said, “Every time I turned around, someone else was offering to pitch in. Before I knew it, I had more than enough help.”

Next on the agenda for Iacovelli was meeting with the Gordons at their home to see exactly what their home improvement needs were. With the number of Rider volunteers exceeding 30, Iacovelli knew her group could make a major difference in this family’s life by simply painting walls, hanging curtains and providing some basic furniture such as a folding table and chairs for the kitchen.

The next week, she spent her days defining the various home improvement projects and assigning students to project teams, and she spent her evenings shopping for paint supplies, meeting the children to decide on themes for their bedrooms and even taking them shopping with her to pick out accessories.

On November 19, two Rider Athletic vans arrived at the Gordon house filled with students on a mission to help. “It was like an extreme makeover you see on TV,” Iacovelli said. “Everyone piled out of the vans and started working in their assigned project teams.”

Members who volunteered that day were: Coach Trisha Carroll and the Women’s Softball team, Emerging Leaders (both freshman and peer leaders) and the Student Government Association, who all were assigned to paint bedrooms, the living room and the bathroom.
Also, members of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity painted a Transformers-themed bedroom, which is shared by the two youngest boys. Alumni of Phi Tau fraternity volunteered to create a Philadelphia Eagles football team-themed room for the oldest boy, including a free hand mural of the Eagles insignia. In addition, the Student Entertainment Council donated a queen size mattress and box spring for the 13-year-old boy.

Alpha Xi Delta Sorority purchased bicycles for the youngest children, and the Interfraternity Council donated a desk and computer so the grandparents no longer had to take the five children to the library to work on school projects and homework assignments.

The biggest accomplishments in terms of safety included the laying of a donated Pergo kitchen floor over uneven subflooring and the installation of a staircase railing. The children’s themed bedrooms, the fresh paint throughout the home and the curtains on the windows helped make the house a more welcoming home. “I really feel we left the Gordons with a home that was a much more comfortable living environment,” Iacovelli said. “It was great to see the way our students pulled together to help a family, a true testament to civic engagement.”