On September 22nd and 23rd, the Alvernia Men's Basketball team was reaching out to help the local community. The Crusaders set out to help a former TV personality and fashion designer Gene London. The Reading Public Museum opened the Magic of Hollywood: The Gene London Collection on October 3, 2009. The collection featured over 100 gowns and costumes that were used in past movies such as Gone with the Wind filmed in 1939. The past collection featured costumes worn by Sean Connery, Tyrone Powers, Frederick March, and Michael Jackson's prince outfit worn during a 1985 photo shoot.
Each piece of clothing in the exhibit had been worn by a celebrity in the past and London desired to share them all with the public. London displayed his collection in other locations such as the Showboat Casino Hotel in Atlantic City and also at the 80th anniversary celebration of the Old Academy Players in Philadelphia.
London reached out to the Alvernia community for assistance with moving his collection to the GoggleWorks for their fifth anniversary celebration and the men's basketball team responded. “Coach Miller contacted me and said his team would like to help me,” said London. “Mike told me 'I want the guys to know each other, to depend on each other, and to become friends with each other.' That's what it's all about. You're a team member and that's what life is about.”
The Crusaders moved large exhibit cases from London's warehouse to the GoggleWorks. The cases were extremely heavy and required dolly's in order to be moved from place to place. It was a meticulous process and according to London “They worked well, they were not sloppy and they understood what they were asked to do.”
London was extremely grateful for the assistance from the basketball team saying, “The basketball team is remarkable, those kids are great. They acted well off the court and were courteous, they were happy to be there and they all showed that they are team leaders.”
Senior Seth Cornell said, “Helping Gene was a great opportunity for team bonding while helping others at the same time.”
London continued to compliment the outstanding job that the Crusaders were able to do saying, “For me it was an eye opener, it was great to see them interact with each other and grasp the proper ways to complete the tasks and it was a joy to have them. These guys deserve to win, they are terrific.”
The Crusaders were able to act upon Alvernia's Franciscan values, using teamwork to help a well respected man that enjoys sharing his lifetime collections and represented Alvernia by showing respect and passion while helping others in the community.
