Life heated up this summer for hockey player Brian Moore, who normally lives on the ice.
Moore, a junior on the Falcon hockey team, took a ten-day mission trip to Haiti with Active Christians Today, a campus ministry organization located at 612 E. Wooster St.
Though he is not a member of ACT, the other 11 people taking the trip said Moore was welcome to join when he heard of the trek to Haiti.
‘It was something that was in my heart to do,’ Moore said. ‘It was really easy to raise the money [for me to go] by sending letters to family and friends.’
The total cost of the trip for each person was around $1,400, according to Moore. That fundraising nearly came to nothing the day before ACT left, when the U.S. Secretary of Transportation advised all Americans not to travel to Haiti.
But the group departed anyway, and Moore said he was glad they did.
The mission team of 12 spent all of their time in and around destitute spots in the Haitian village of Port au Paix, including an orphanage, children’s compound and a roofless church near where they distributed food.
The Carmel, Ind., native said one of the times he felt most nervous during the trip was when they handed out food to a large gathering of villagers.
‘ ‘We were giving out food on this old dirt airplane runway, and if we hadn’t managed it well, we could have gotten overrun by all the people down there,’ Moore said.
The Falcons’ junior defenseman saw some other, almost unbelievable, sights as well during his ten-day stay.
While walking through Port au Paix one day, Moore said an elderly man attempted to give away a child to the mission team.
‘That’s one of those moments that hits home when people try to pawn off their child to you,’ he said. ‘But it was beautiful at the same time there because there were a lot of Christians down there that were very strong in their faith. And kids are still kids. They still tease each other about girls and they have smiles on their faces.’
Overall, Moore said he felt’ the entire trip strengthened him not only in his faith, but as a person and hockey player as well.
Moore’s coach at BG, Scott Paluch, said he feels extremely proud, yet is not surprised, of his defenseman’s off-ice accomplishments this summer.
‘No question that’s typical of Brian,’ Paluch said. ‘He’s always had a major interest in helping others. He’s always volunteering for different functions. He’s solid in the classroom. He’s always involved.’
So after an intense summer trip, will Moore make a big impact with the team this season? He dressed in only 15 of the team’s 77 games during his first two seasons
‘What he’s done this summer [after the trip] with conditioning, he’s set himself up to compete for a much, much bigger role on the ice,’ Paluch said.
The team’s business pre-law major said he thinks he can carry his Caribbean experience over to his hockey approach.
‘It’s a tough situation down there,’ Moore said, ‘and the hardest part is you do the best you can, but you can’t control everything. That’s something that can translate onto the ice.’
