Daniel Marks
is a Jersey boy, born and raised in Basking Ridge, a proud member of the Ridge
High School Class of 2009.
Over
the last six years, Marks has held many jobs with the Milwaukee Bucks of the
NBA, most recently as the Manager of Prospect Information. It’s a pretty term
for a talent scout, a guy who has worked his way up the Bucks’ organizational
food chain. Marks has watched the Bucks go from a 15-win team when he started
to one of the best teams in the league now.
Of
course, it helped the Bucks that they had the great fortune of drafting Giannis
Antetokounmpo with the 15th
pick overall in the 2013 NBA Draft. Antetokounmpo is the reigning NBA Most
Valuable Player and was a strong contender for his second straight MVP crown
before the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic brought everything to a crashing halt
in mid-March.
“My first year was Giannis’ first year,” Marks said. “I say
that I can be as equally responsible to the team’s turnaround. It has been really
cool to be part of the Bucks and see the growth of the team, becoming a
contender. When I first got to Milwaukee, I couldn’t find where you’d buy a
T-shirt. It’s been neat to see the growth both on and off the floor.”
Even though Marks now resides in Milwaukee, he always wants
to do something good for his native New Jersey.
Recently, Marks came up with an idea that stemmed from his
journeys around the country, scouting for possible talent that the Bucks could
either draft or sign.
“I was in a hotel and saw all the shampoo and soaps and
toiletries that go unused,” Marks said. “I saw a Tweet from a sportswriter who
was collecting those things and it gave me the idea that those unused items
could go to good use.”
Marks thought that the unused toiletries could go to good use
with the homeless in Newark. He then started the initiative he dubbed “Scouting
and Scavenging,” an idea that officially kicked off in January.
“We started collecting from January through mid-March,” Marks
said. “Then the coronavirus hit. But we have a couple of hotels that have donated.”
Marks also started a fundraiser on a GoFundMe page and raised
over $2,000 to purchases toiletry kits, which put soap, shampoo, conditioner, body
lotion, mouthwash, toothpaste and toothbrushes in Ziplock bags. He also
collected some small non-perishable foods, like cookies, cereal and crackers.
At first, Marks was putting each kit together with the help
of his father Bill, mother Ellen and sister Ilana. But the supplies that were coming in were just too vast for
a four-person crew.
So Marks reached out to the community that he knows best –
namely the basketball community.
Marks sent e-mails to every college basketball coach in the
state and asked for a little bit of help. “Scouting and Scavengers” needed some
good old-fashioned teamwork.
“No question, I wanted to help out in any way I could,” said Joe Loughran, the veteran head men’s
basketball coach at Rutgers-Newark, a coach who gets to see a lot of the
homeless people that dwell in areas around the campus. “I wanted to help out in
a town where I’ve worked the last 19 years. I was impressed with David’s
mission and wanted to be a part of it.”
So did Tony Bozzella,
the head women’s basketball coach at nearby Seton Hall.
“It was a great idea,” Bozzella said. “All year long, we
compete against each other. Now we’re united for a great cause. You don’t
realize how many times you go to a hotel and you don’t use the shampoo and it
gets thrown out. It was collected as a team and we put them into bags as a
team. It was really incredible to see all the boxes of toiletries that had to
be sorted out. I couldn’t believe it. It was so organized.”
Greg Herenda, the head men’s basketball coach at Fairleigh Dickinson,
also volunteered right away when he received the email.
Then Herenda remembered one thing: Wednesday, June 10 was
Greg and Jill Herenda’s 25th wedding anniversary.
“Initially, I told Dan that I couldn’t make it, because it
was my anniversary,” Herenda said. “But Jill said, ‘You have to do that.’ She’s
incredible. She’s with me in all our charitable events.”
Herenda also enjoyed himself working the event. He was paired
with the Rutgers University head men’s coach Steve Pikiell, putting bags together.
The collection of New Jersey college basketball coaches are collecting goods for the needy of Newark
“Dan did a great job organizing everything,” Herenda said. “We
were like a machine. It was great, because I saw guys I haven’t seen in a long
time. It was great working with other coaches.”
Newark Mayor Ras
Baraka was also on hand, putting kits together.
The Brick City Peace Collective and Hello Fresh have been
collecting goods for the needy every Wednesday at the JFK Center in Newark, so
the Scouting and Scavenging group joined forces to have the day of a lifetime.
Hello Fresh provides more than 500,000 meals to the needy of Newark every year.
There was also fresh produce and fruits that were bagged up
as well, courtesy of Hello Fresh and Table to Table.
The Brick City Peace Collective was established by Mayor
Baraka last year. How fitting was it that there was a group of peaceful people
working together to help the needy.
“Given what’s going on in the county and what happened in
1968 with the riots in Newark, this was refreshing,” Marks said. “We had a good
turnout. The response was impressive.”
Some of the other coaches involved were Princeton head men’s
coach Mitch Henderson and women’s
head coach Carla Berube; NJIT head
women’s coach Mike Lane; Tony Skinn and Duane Woodward, assistant men’s coaches at Seton Hall; Jeff Rafferty, assistant coach at NJIT;
Rick Callahan and Jamal Meeks, assistant men’s coaches at
Monmouth; Lauren DeFalco, assistant
women’s coach at Seton Hall and Matt
Loughlin, the radio voice of the New Jersey Devils. Yes, that’s hockey, but
Loughlin is great donating his time for charity causes.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (left) and Scouting and Savangers' director Daniel Marks (right)
“The turnout was tremendous,” Marks said. “It was definitely
more than I expected. We wanted to keep everything positive and we did.”
Marks gave a special thanks to Dawn Haynes from the Newark Board of Education.
The coaches all enjoyed themselves.
“It was very rewarding,” Loughlin said. “I know Coach Herenda
and Coach Pikiell forever, so it was good to see them. We were giving back to
the city that I work in.”
“Newark is our city, our community,” Bozzella said. “This has
an impact on all of our neighbors. We’re going to go back and help again.”
“I think I’m going to bring my team and go back,” Herenda
said. “I can’t thank Dan enough for including me in it. It was a great event
and a good cause.”
Needless to say, Marks was happy.
“It just picked up some steam from where we started in
January,” Marks said. “I thought it was going to be hard when COVID-19 hit. But
I had faith and it turned out pretty cool.”
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