Former Rutgers Rowers Reunite to Help Families of Fallen First Responders

More than 40 years after rowing crew at Rutgers, an alumni trio has melded their synchronization skills and friendship into a foundation to help families of fallen first responders.

Mark O'Connor, Class of 1979, and 1982 graduates Bob White and Geof McKernan are leaders of the non-profit Families Behind the Badge Children's Foundation, which serves South Jersey, Philadelphia, and surrounding regions.

They've shifted gears to another repetitive sport for their annual 65-mile bicycle ride from Philadelphia to Atlantic City, dubbed "The Ben (Franklin Bridge) to the Shore Bike Tour," which raises most of the money for their foundation's three-pronged mission: supporting families of fallen or critically injured first responders with immediacy financial grants; sponsoring "Police Youth Alliance" events, which seek to build positive relationships between officers and underserved children in communities they patrol and spotlighting mental health awareness and programs.

Family members are encouraged to form bike teams and join the ride, which features a "Wall of Heroes" photo display at the Atlantic City finish area to honor those lost.

"It's very cathartic for them, spending time together,'' said O'Connor, a business administration major who is the foundation's co-founder and executive director. "They love the engagement. They love that their loved one is still remembered.''

The event has grown to roughly 2,300 riders and raises about $1.5 million annually - with $14 million overall in donations since the organization's inception.

O'Connor, White, and McKernan have made the foundation a decades-long commitment after being jolted by tragedies that involving first responders in the line of duty, even though none of them has been a police officer, firefighter, or EMT.

In the early 1980s, after O'Connor opened a Philadelphia pub, he befriended a group of city police officers that frequented his place. Less than a year later, one of those officers, Daniel Faulkner, 25, was shot dead after a traffic stop.

"I saw first-hand what it did to his squad. I saw what it did to his wife,'' explained O'Connor. "That's when I realized, 'My god, you can't pay these people enough... Every time they go out, they're risking their life.' So that had always stuck with me,'' O' Connor said. (Don't think we need the second attribution to O'Connor in this graph.

In 2007, after several Philadelphia police officers were killed in the line of duty, O'Connor enlisted McKernan and White into the newly formed foundation.

"They appreciate that we appreciate them…and really show them our support," said White, a business economics major and the foundation's president. "They're all surprised that none of us are in that world."

Marissa Fitzgerald, whose husband, Temple Police Sgt. Christopher Fitzgerald was killed in 2023, is quoted on the foundation's website: "It is unexplainable, and it is the most unbearable feeling that you can feel waking up every day living this life without the one that you love, but with an organization like this, it is amazing to have their support every single day and to be there for families like ours.''

Following the 2014 protests against police in Ferguson, Mo., the foundation broadened its mission to include a "Police Youth Alliance'' component. Police officers and youngsters, often in underserved areas of Atlantic City and Philadelphia, get together to play chess, drums, do carpentry, and practice skills and drills in sports like basketball.

McKernan, an international environmental studies major who is chairman of the foundation's board of directors, said the goal is simply "getting the cops and the kids together, and realizing the cops aren't the bad guys, and trying to help these kids.''

The impetus for incorporating mental health assistance into their mission came after a series of suicides among Philadelphia police officers. Foundation members learned many officers are reluctant to go through their departments for help, fearful of being stigmatized and damaging their careers.

"We can provide these resources for them in a way that's anonymous and they can get some help,'' said White, explaining the foundation provides referrals to officers so they can get assistance without their departments or anyone else being aware.

The trio's rowing experiences still run deep.

White and McKernan rowed together on Rutgers' top crew squad, while O'Connor rowed for a lower-level team. O'Connor and McKernan even row together now on the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania.

"The basis of really my whole life and the success of this ride is rowing at Rutgers and making these connections and then keeping those connections,'' said O'Connor. "So, we'd love to expand on that if we could.''