Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Rangers’ Richards, Gaborik, Eminger help clean up Sandy-devastated Queens’ community

Brad Richards

Brad Richards #19 of the New York Rangers celebrates his second period goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden on November 29, 2011 in New York City. (November 28, 2011 - Source: Nick Laham/Getty Images North America)

Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik, and Steve Eminger already participated charity event to help those impacted by Hurricane Sandy and raised $10,000 in the process.

That alone was a great service to the community, but when former New York firefighter Matt Long asked Richards if he’d help clean up Breezy Point community, Richards agreed and brought Gaborik and Eminger along with him, according to an ESPN report.

Richards had previously met Long at a Rangers’ team event and at the time had offered his services to Long if he wanted to partner up.

“There were no cameras, no one was watching. It was just Brad Richards, down there getting dirty, ankle-deep in water, pouring garbage out of 100-year-old houses,” Long said.

Long’s brother, Chris, was among those who needed his house gutted and torn down. Chris is also a big Rangers fan and cheered up when Richards came to help him out.

“It was the first time he smiled since it happened,” Long said of his brother.

Richards is known for his community work and with the lockout dragging on, he’s spent some of that extra free time helping others.

“We’re doing it because we can. We’re in a position to do it and it’s fun for us,” Richards said. “A lot of us don’t like talking about it. We want awareness for it because we want to get the numbers up, [but] guys do a lot of this stuff and it goes unnoticed.

“We just want to be part of the community. It’s a tough time for these guys.”