A group of high school basketball players in Brevard County helped their community before and after Hurricane Irma came to Central Florida.

  • Port St. John students fixed Irma-damaged homes
  • Students play basketball for Space Coast Junior/Senior High
  • Teammates say they want to help community more often

Eight Port St. John students at Space Coast Junior/Senior High School made it their mission to help as many families in their community as the storm approached.

“We tried to do everything we could, because we were fortunate with the damage we received we didn’t get hit that bad. But a lot of people were in a less fortunate situation, so you have to put yourself in their shoes and help out who you can,” senior Brenden Roberts said.

The boys, along with their coach, helped area residents prepare for Irma by putting up storm shutters and plywood.

After Irma passed through the area, the team spent the next five days cleaning up debris and fixing damaged homes.

“If they can walk away from our basketball program and understand that yes, I got better at basketball but I am also a better person, putting other people before themselves is my main goal,” Space Coast basketball coach Mike Pommier said.

The students said their school and coach helped instill in them a desire to do community service. They say they want to make it a point to get out into the community as often as possible to give back.

“It felt good to do it, because we knew they couldn’t really take care of it themselves and it wasn’t going to get done without us," senior Carson Cole said. "So there was a need for us there, and I feel like we really helped these people out."

“It can be really costly to hire people to fix damage like that, so it does feel really good to help people out who really need it,” Roberts said.