Wrapping up a weekend conference for young difference-makers hosted by the University of Miami, Bill Clinton and a small army of participants, Hurricanes, Dolphins, and residents spent Sunday laboring to improve a transitional housing complex in Homestead.
Some of it went better than others, at least where Clinton is concerned: the Miami Herald reports the former President smudged a UM logo he was painting on tiles that will form the wall of a new on-site farmers' market.
"It looks good," he said, "except for that blob."
The Clinton Global Initiative University brought 1,300 students from more than 80 countries to Coral Gables, where they discussed their plans for community improvement with leaders who have already seen their own ideas realized. What better way to close an idealistic brainstorm than with actual community service?
100 student-athletes from The U, including football players Jacory Harris, Marcus Forston, Orlando Franklin, and Damien Berry, agreed.
So did Dolphins players Lousaka Polite, Patrick Cobbs, and Greg Camarillo; defensive line coach Kacey Rogers; and former wide receiver Nat Moore.
So did Oakland Raider Nnamdi Asomugha and former Heat star Alonzo Mourning.
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And so did residents of the homeless complex, who helped the hoard of volunteers spread mulch, rake, paint, and even do laundry.
“All of these young people, they’d all like to be professional athletes or movie stars and they know they won’t all be able to," said Clinton to MiamiDolphins.com. "But when they see that the athletes are doing this when they could all be doing something else on a rainy day like this, they say, ‘Well if they do it then I should do it.’ The whole idea here is to create an ethic in these young people so they do this for the rest of their lives.”
The Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust has big plans for the Homestead Homeless Complex, which they're working to expand from 300 beds to 600. And while all the volunteers worked hard toward the contruction of an adjoining organic nursery and the farmers' market, a few took a timeout to talk pigskin.
"[Clinton] told us that last year [the Dolphins] had one of the most exciting seasons," Cobbs said. "We were winning games when people didn't think we would win them and we were all over the place. He just said he enjoyed watching us and he expects big things for us next year."
