(COVINGTON, La.) Two members of the St. Paul’s lacrosse team have created a charity drive this year in remembrance of Graham Jordan.  Jordan was an Honor graduate of St. Paul’s in 2014 and a prominent member of the St. Paul’s Lacrosse Wolves; however, Graham tragically passed away last year on Jan. 29, 2017.

Jordan’s untimely passing was a dreadful surprise for St. Paul’s last year that greatly affected the St. Paul’s lacrosse community due to both his five years on the team and his character legacy.

Two members of the current St. Paul’s lacrosse team, Hyde Healy and Michael Philippe, have taken on a special charity project called “Goals for Graham” in his memory.

“Hyde and I wanted to create a service or charity project that would allow the team to grow together,” junior Michael Philippe said. “The impact that the passing of Graham Jordan had on our team immediately came to mind, and we knew that devoting this project to Graham would be very special. The response to Goals for Graham was incredible; over $5,000 was raised in the first week.”

The Goals for Graham charity’s proceeds go directly to the Graham Jordan Memorial Scholarship Fund.  The scholarship was set up by Jordan’s family after his passing last year and is given to a rising senior (not necessarily a lacrosse player) who best lives out the values exhibited by Jordan during his lifetime. Last year, current senior Hanson Stuckey received the award.

One surprising aspect of the charity project is the fact that the two juniors who started it had never even met Jordan.

“Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to meet Graham,” Philippe said. “I started playing lacrosse my freshman year, and by that time, he had graduated. Creating Goals for Graham with Hyde allowed me to be able to learn about Graham’s personality and the way he made other people feel, and although I never met him, I can confidently say that he was an amazing person that left a positive impact on everyone he met.”

“I never actually knew Graham, unfortunately,” Healy echoed. “But, through his heavy presence on the lacrosse team last year and through the words people have spoken about him and the impact he’s had on people I’ve spoken to, in a way I feel like I have gotten to know him.  And I think that speaks volumes about Graham.”

The Goals for Graham charity project allows donors to donate in two distinct manners: either with a single one-time donation, or by pledging a certain amount of money for each goal the varsity lacrosse team scores this season.

[To donate or pledge to Goals for Graham click here.]

The Lacrosse team has implemented other ways to remember and continue Jordan’s legacy in addition to the charity drive.

“Last year, Graham was with us throughout the season,” Healy said. “Our senior captains, Dylan Futrell, Ryan Flood, and Liam Ordoyne really incorporated him into our team. When saying the school prayer, we would ask Graham to pray for us.  And to close our prayer, we still say ‘live Jesus and Graham in our hearts, forever.’ Everything we did became for Graham. Every win and every accomplishment was for Graham.”

In addition, the team has ordered stickers commemorating Jordan that will be placed on team members’ helmets this season.

For more information on Goals for Graham, Healy and Philippe also produced a short film, edited together by St. Paul’s seniors Brandon Gallego and Joel Fernandes, which can be viewed below.

Ongoing campaign information will be available throughout the lacrosse season on the Goals for Graham Twitter page.