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Basketball took Eric Devendorf all over the world. First as a professional in New Zealand, then Australia, Ukraine, Israel and Greece.

But Devendorf’s latest project keeps him grounded in Syracuse — the city where it all started. In February, the former All-Big East guard created CNY Cares Inc., a charity to give back to small businesses in the area struggling due to the pandemic. The charity started with a GoFundMe campaign but, aided by several community members, became a full operation that has raised over $350,000, Devendorf said.

“I’m lucky and grateful to have a platform from Syracuse basketball that allows my reach to get out a little further,” Devendorf said. “And I want to use that in a good way.” 

But doing charitable work in Syracuse is nothing new to Devendorf. Upon his return to SU as an assistant coach, he held coat, shoe and hat donation drives in the city. More recently, Devendorf has spent the past four years playing in the The Basketball Tournament for Boeheim’s Army, a team composed of former SU players who give a portion of the tournament’s earnings to the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation. 

Before the pandemic, Devendorf created ED23Hoops, a series of basketball camps and clinics for local youth, and he also held both group and individual workouts at nearby gyms. When all gyms in New York were closed in late March, his business shut down.

Still, SU’s 14th-leading scorer in program history considered himself grateful to have other philanthropic efforts keeping him afloat. Knowing what it was like to lose his business during the pandemic, and considering that small businesses were “what make the community thrive here,” Devendorf was encouraged to help others, he said.

“He’s got a great heart,” said Pyramid Network Services President Cy Weichert, who serves on the board for CNY Cares. “He went out, and rather than sit around and mope on the couch and feel sorry for himself, he decided to go out and start raising money.”

In December, Devendorf saw Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy’s video announcement of the Barstool Fund, in which Portnoy pledged to “try to help as many people as we can” by raising money to support small businesses around the country. For Devendorf, that line was a manifestation of an idea he’d carried with him for years. 

“You could make all the money in the world, have all the success in the world,” Devendorf said, “But if you don’t have anybody to share that with or share that success with, it doesn’t seem as good.” 

The next day, Devendorf started a GoFundMe page called “The 25k small business giveback” and released a Twitter video similar to Portnoy’s that explains the fundraiser. The title of the GoFundMe was quickly altered to “50k-” and later “75k-” as donations poured in from across the state, both from anonymous donors and former Syracuse athletes alike, Devendorf said.  

After raising over $60,000 by mid-January, Devendorf had enough money to divide between 18 selected businesses around Syracuse. The criteria businesses had to meet were proof of need and a noticeable importance to the area that transcended face value, Devendorf said. Consequently, some of the businesses chosen were ones he frequented as a player, such as Mother’s Cupboard. 

“I had tears in my eyes,” said Amy Easton, co-owner of Mother’s Cupboard, a local restaurant. “He was a great person back then … to give back to the roots of Syracuse is a great thing.” 

After the first round of donations, Devendorf grabbed the attention of local businessmen, such as Weichert. The Syracuse native had kept in touch with Devendorf since his playing days and wanted to offer professional structure to pair with Devendorf’s energy and social media outreach. 

Eric Devendorf ran basketball clinics for kids in central New York before the pandemic, but had to find a different way to be involved in the community when the pandemic hit. Daily Orange File Photo

Using Weichert’s connections, Devendorf got to work assembling CNY Cares Inc. It started with Todd Ruetsch, president of Printing and Promotional Solutions, who Devendorf has known since his first year in Syracuse. The team has since brought on former SU star John Wallace, from Rochester, and now has nine total board members.

“(Devendorf)’s been very helpful in terms of getting this campaign out there, as well as the media side of things,” Drescher said. “So I can’t say enough good things about Eric.” 

With Devendorf serving as the face of CNY Cares Inc. — having made it official on Feb. 11 — the rest of the board has used its connections to leverage donations and support, Drescher said.

Currently, CNY Cares Inc.’s outreach spans the neighboring counties of Syracuse to Rochester and encompasses the Finger Lakes region as well. But if a group of businesses from Buffalo approached the board with a means to fundraise, the operation is “easily expandable,” Weichert said.

“It’s the least I can do, man,” Devendorf said. “The support the community has given me here in Syracuse is like none other, so I’m glad to help.” 

Published on February 23, 2021 at 11:10 pm

Contact Tim: tnolan@syr.edu