Ethan Greenidge, Riverhead CAP team up to support school

Ethan Greenidge, a 2015 Riverhead High School graduate and former NFL player, has been teaming up with the Riverhead Community Awareness Program for the last few years. They came together again at Phillips Avenue Elementary School on Friday, Sept. 12, meeting some of the kids and continuing their outreach and mission. 

“I always want to be a giver at the end of the day. I want to be able to give back, and be able to give to the community that I’m from,” Mr. Greenidge said. “For me, I have some pillars in my life: faith, giving and being a family man.”

Mr. Greenidge and Brian Stark, the CAP board president, have been donating school supplies to the school since 2021, which is where Mr. Greenidge attended as a child. The initial donation that year was $2,000, an idea conceived by Mr. Greenidge. Since then, the annual donation has grown, and this year, the two are donating a combined $5,000 toward the supplies.

Though Mr. Greenidge has been giving back this way since 2021, this was actually the first time he returned to the school in a long time. In the past, he’d be in other cities — like New Orleans or Atlanta — because of the NFL season, and his parents would go as his representation. This time around, having the chance to not only see his old school again but also meet some of the students whose lives his donations help was special to him. 

“For me to be able to come back to an old school where I was, and just remembering the steps I took over here, just remembering the opportunities that I was able to have, I want to be able to make sure these kids have the same thing,” he said. “And just de-stressing some of the little things that I know that life can bring. If I can be a help to that, I always want to do that, and giving that faith is just so important to me. It’s just so cool to see this and see the kids again.”

Mr. Greenidge was coached by CAP Board President Brian Stark in basketball when he was in high school. Felicia Scocozza, the executive director of CAP, said the two remained close over the years following high school. In 2020, during the pandemic, she said the two got together and donated gift cards to families in Riverhead who needed food. Following that, they wanted to expand and help students, and it’s been growing every year. 

The students were somewhat in awe meeting Mr. Greenidge and had big smiles on their faces while taking pictures. Phillips Avenue Elementary School principal Stephen Hudson said the school had put out some information beforehand about Mr. Greenidge so the students would know more about him. They found some old photos of him back when he played football for Riverhead and hung them up as posters. Some of Mr. Greenidge’s old teachers still work there, and they got to catch up with him as well.

“We truly feel blessed to have this type of community where people like Ethan remember Phillips Avenue and are still proud of Phillips Avenue and very much a part of Phillips Avenue,” Mr. Hudson said. “With CAP, we continue to work with our students, with all the types of support that they provide. Any district, any students, just having that community to provide, whether it’s monetary or just social-emotional support, it’s the whole gamut, and it’s really just an amazing thing. One of the greatest things about Riverhead is our community — how we stick together.”