HARRISON COUNTY, W.Va. — The members of the Clarksburg-based Notre Dame Baseball team are being credited with helping two distressed motorists Saturday afternoon within an hour.
The first service was rendered in the parking lot of the baseball diamond, where a family from Pittsburgh had a flat tire. The boys used Fix-a-Flat; the family had to make a quick repair to get them to a repair shop.
The second was a little more involved.
The three players and Dominick Bombardiere observed a car near the Charles Pointe exit with a flat tire while traveling to the Buffalo Wild Wings for a post-56-game celebration with the team. Already late due to the service rendered at the baseball field, the boys stopped again to help this family traveling through West Virginia from North Carolina.
“It was a good experience because we got to talk to those people and create new relationships; it was awesome,” Bombardiere said.
The boys unloaded the luggage to get to the tire and made repairs along the side of the interstate. The family told the boys they certainly appreciated the help due to age and health issues. The family offered to compensate the boys a couple of different ways, but the boys declined.
“We helped them load all their stuff back in their car, which we removed to get the tire out,” Bombardiere said. “But they offered to get us ice cream and pay for our Buffalo Wild Wings, and we declined because it was the right thing to do.”
The director of religious education at the school, Patty Dupont, wasn’t remotely surprised by the actions of the boys. She said this is the way they are taught to treat people every day.
“We do service projects and that sort of thing all the time to get the kids service-oriented,” Dupont said. “But it’s more to simply instill in them that this is how you live your life—in service to other people.”
The boys said they never considered accepting anything from the family for their goodwill. Bombardiere said helping the folks in need was credit enough.
“Our school has always taught us to do the right thing no matter what scenario you’re in,” Bombardiere said. “To treat others like your family—your closest people.”
Again, Dupont said the actions didn’t surprise her at all. Instead, she compared their actions to other students. One who grows her hair regularly and cuts it so cancer patients can have wigs, the student that helps foster children, or the students that reach out to help the elderly on a regular basis, just to name a few.
“As a school, we’re very proud of these boys for living the foundation we’re giving them here,” Dupont said. “The fact is, this one caught the news, but this happens every day here.”