West Side Rowing Club (WSRC) continues to support its community through philanthropic efforts, most recently with the Mothers of Alumni Rowers (M.O.A.R.s) group, bringing Christmas to a St. Patrick's Friary family-in-need with gifts and a special holiday meal.
M.O.A.R.s began in 2012 to continue the kinship among WSRC rowing families whose athletes had graduated. Once a month, the group gets together and has an outing, including each year's seniors' mothers to continue as volunteers at the Club. This past year for their December philanthropy, the group voted to sponsor a family-in-need for the Christmas holidays. One of M.O.A.R.s founding members, Maryalice Victor, and her mother, Kathie Brinkworth, have been actively involved with the St. Patrick's Friary Pantry for many year. The group jumped at the chance to sponsor a family for the holiday Victor said. The donations provided for a Christmas to remember for the family, with presents for each of the six family members and a special holiday dinner.
The St. Patrick's Friary is run by coordinator Monica Kwiatkowski and her assistant Jim Dudziak under the direction of the Franciscan Friars. For many years the Pantry has provided support for numerous area families. While delivering the group's donations, Victor and member Barbara Johnson discovered one of the Pantry volunteers, Betsy Broderick Kurzdorfer, is the great niece of Michael Broderick, the second (and longest serving President) of the West Side Rowing Club. Kurzdorfer's father, Thomas, was the son of Joseph Broderick, Michael Broderick's brother.
Broderick's WSRC legacy includes rowing the first 8-person shell in Buffalo, managing the United States Rowing Team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, being only the second American to receive a lifetime membership in the Canadian Rowing Association, being enshrined at the National Rowing Hall of Fame in 1983, and having the Broderick Plate named after him, the most prestigious annual award distributed by WSRC.
In the future, M.O.A.R.s intends to sponsor the WSRC Boat of Hope, using an old rowing shell to hold donations for area families in need. The hope is that current rowers and families will have an opportunity to participate with M.O.A.R.s, as well as be able to sponsor several additional families through holiday gifts for each family member and a special family Christmas dinner.