Got
Work? Crew Team Rowers Available for Hire
By
Julie Colatrella ’12
 Ever
wish you could just pay someone to do all your house chores
for you? A team to rake the leaves while you sip your coffee.
Someone to watch your kids while you run errands. Helpers
to clean the house, move the pool furniture, walk the dog.
Wouldn’t
that be great?
Thanks to the Smith crew team,
that wish can be your reality this fall.
From Friday, Oct.
30, through Sunday, Nov. 1, the crew team’s Rent-A-Rower fall fundraiser
kicks off, offering two rowers for hire for two hours to
help folks in the Smith community around the house. For $50
two rowers will paint, garden, rake, shovel snow (if we have
any), move—whatever you need. Morning and afternoon shifts
are available this weekend, thereafter by appointment on
weekends or weekday afternoons.
To hire your own personal
rowing team, or contact Karen
Klinger at ext. 2717.
Funds raised through
the program will go toward the crew team’s annual spring
break trip to the Gainesville (Georgia) Olympic course. The
trip allows rowers to practice in a warmer climate while
strengthening team bonds, says head coach Karen Klinger,
and provides an essential opportunity for the team to train
in the spring.
“We start racing the weekend after spring break, so the ability to row and not
worry about temperatures or river flooding for that week really helps. This team
has its sights on a return trip to the NCAA Championships, so every moment, every
stroke on the water counts.”
Klinger says her rowers are
excited about the spring trip, and is confident they will
perform strongly in their assigned tasks. “When you train at 5:20 in the
morning, you get used to being on time and working together,” she jokes.
The
idea for the Rent-A-Rower program came from the crew team’s new Fundraising Committee,
a student group put together to allow opportunities for leadership. Similar fundraising
projects have worked well at other schools nearby, Klinger says.
The funds are
necessary to support the spring trip, she emphasizes. Due
to the vast size of the crew team—with more 60 members—using buses for transportation is not an option.
Therefore, funds from the Rent-A-Rower program will pay for airplane fares and
ensure that all teammates, regardless of their financial situation, will be able
to go.
“The students really raise the cost for the trip themselves,” says Klinger, “and
they are really committed. They don’t just want handouts, which is why we are
working, not asking for donations.”
The trip, with all costs included,
totals about $48,000, Klinger says, or $800 per athlete.
The Rent-A-Rower fundraiser, along with other team efforts
during the year, will help limit the out-of-pocket expenses
for each athlete.
A crew team member has never
had to miss the spring training trip due to financial reasons,
Klinger explains.
So, if you haven’t reserved
your athletes for the weekend, give the team a call. A few
are still available, but they are also on call for the rest
of the fall—ready
to get dirty in the pursuit of speed. |
