By Riley Eike
Staff Writer
Students and faculty members of Bona Responds traveled to Buffalo, NY recently to assist homeowners and companies with the aftermath of the snowstorm.
Nov. 21, 22 and 23, through travel bans and snow, Bona Responds visited towns such as Cowlesville and West Seneca to help dig out driveways, fire hydrants, cars, roofs and anything else buried by the snow.
Bona Responds is a St. Bonaventure University club that helps those in need. They specialize in help after disasters but they are known to help anyone who asks for it.
The snowstorm filled West Seneca with 78 inches of Snow, Cowlesville with 88 inches of snow and caused both of them to call for help.
Jim Mahar, the club’s advisor, found alternative routes to get to Buffalo on Friday in order to abide by the travel bans.
Carolyn Ryer, sophomore education major, volunteered her time with Bona Responds to help the residents of the greater Buffalo area.
By Saturday and Sunday, the roads to Buffalo were mostly clear and traveling there was not a major concern, Ryer said.
“I worked until I couldn’t anymore,” Ryer said. “The snow was over my head. We cleared 8-feet-tall and full-of-snow driveways, walking on top of cars we didn’t even know were under us.”
“The people were so happy,” Ryer said. “They fed us and let us warm up in their homes. The elders were so happy too. They had been trapped for days, many without heat.”
Bona Responds reached out to St. Bonaventure alumni and nearby residents through Facebook and Twitter prior to each day of volunteering.
Gregory Faughnan, 2014 Bonaventure graduate from Endicott, drove from SUNY Upstate Medical University to Buffalo to help Bona Responds.
Faughnan, who was part of Bona Responds in his junior and senior year, said he keeps a close eye on the Facebook group and was prompted to travel to Buffalo by the pictures of the snow.
“We had a pretty good group of people from Bona’s, probably in the 50s,” Faughnan said. “A lot of alumni that are now living in Buffalo or Rochester showed up, it was great to see everyone again.”
“We helped to clear 29 driveways, about 15 fire hydrants, and several roofs, doors and walkways,” Faughnan said.
Bona Responds is always looking for more people to join and help with their jobs.
“The most important thing is we need and want people to help all the time,” Ryer said. “We do something pretty much every weekend. It makes me so upset to see students prioritize basketball games and going out on the weekends over helping people who are really in need.”
