Fioravanti gives back to the community
Senior forward Amanda Fioravanti is much more than just a basketball player for the Saint Joseph’s women’s basketball team. Fioravanti volunteers with multiple organizations, including the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and won the team’s Roosevelt Hunter Community Service Award last season.
St. Joe’s strives to produce “men and women with and for others,” and women’s basketball Head Coach Cindy Griffin sees that in Fioravanti.
“She has a heart of gold,” Griffin said. “She’s a person for others. She puts other people first.” Fioravanti’s passion for volunteering come from her close relationship with her 29-year-old brother, Andrew Fioravanti, who has muscular dystrophy. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke defines the muscular dystrophy as “a group of more than 30 genetic diseases characterized by progressive weakness and degeneration of the skeletal muscles that control movement.”
Fioravanti is majoring in elementary education and minoring in autism studies, a decision which she said was also influenced by her brother.
“I see what him and other kids with the same disability and other disabilities have to go through, and some people are scared of them. And they’re not scary—they’re the same as us,” Fioravanti said. “We have a very close relationship. He’s my biggest fan. He comes to every single game. I love him to death.”
Although Fioravanti started volunteering when she was in girl scouts, she said she didn’t fully develop a passion for it until she was in high school. Every player is required to have 10 hours of community service each semester, and, according to Griffin, Fioravanti helps ensure the volunteer work is enjoyable for all her teammates.
“The other day, she brought [senior] Jazmin Horne with her for two or three hours to volunteer,” Griffin said. “She brings other players with her, and they make it a fun thing. They make it an outing, if you will.”
Fioravanti and Horne went to Broad Street Ministry to serve the homeless on Nov. 2. What particularly stuck out to Fioravanti was how grateful the homeless were for things others might take for granted.
Fioravanti also especially enjoys CHOP prom, which gives cancer patients at CHOP an opportunity to dress up and dance. She also began volunteering with the Kinney Center at St. Joe’s this year, and hopes to one day teach younger special needs students.
“After this, I have to student teach, and then I want to go play overseas,” Fioravanti said. “I’m interested in taking a couple of different mission trips. And then after that, I want to teach. Probably younger [kids], hopefully in a special needs classroom. I don’t really know for sure. Everyone’s told me I have a niche for kids, and kids love me when I’m with them. It’s funny, because they’re the littlest and I’m normally always the biggest person in the classroom.”
Fioravanti feels that her volunteer work and her desire to be a special education teacher complement each other well.
“I think [volunteer work] plays a huge role [in teaching] because you’re giving back,” Fioravanti said. “Every day, as a teacher, you’re making a difference in a child’s life.”
While Fioravanti’s volunteer work has certainly made an impact off the court, she also feels that it helps on the court.
“It makes me work harder,” Fioravanti said. “Sometimes you take [things] for granted. With volunteering, that shows you, never take anything for granted.”
Griffin sees the impact Fioravanti has on and off the court, and estimates that, in early November, Fioravanti had already completed at least 20 hours of community service. Griffin also believes that Fioravanti’s upbeat attitude and desire to help and please others has a positive impact on the entire team.
Griffin has high praise for Fioravanti’s passion, desire, and drive to volunteer and work with special needs children.
“She sees that there’s a need for people to help. She understood that at a young age,” Griffin said. “You have to be a special human being to be able to do what she’s done, and the people that work with kids with disabilities and people. She’s just a wonderful human being.”
