TAMPA, Fla. — It was a surprise fit for a selfless man.
“I didn’t expect any of this. I didn’t expect so many people to be here,” said Coach Carlos Rolon.
His friends, family, the volleyball team he coaches, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleaders all showed up to Victory Charter School to help Ginger Zee and Good Morning America honor him.
“I’m so grateful,” he said.
GMA honored Rolon for the work he does on the volleyball courts and off — for the community. That work started when he and his family moved to Tampa back in 2017. Hurricane Maria destroyed their home in Puerto Rico. He said while they’ve lived through a hurricane before that Maria was the first category five hurricane they’ve experienced.
“At that very moment when the hurricane hit, I was holding the doors so they wouldn’t blow off,” he said.
Hurricane Maria destroyed their house, but his family was not hurt. He said when they came to Tampa, they only had $150 and eight bags filled with whatever they could salvage. He and his wife quickly found jobs and a place to live.
‘"One day I woke up and said 'I’m, going to do something to give back to the community,''” said Rolon.
He formed the Dynamite Volley Ball Club of Tampa and an initiative called Dynamite Cares.
“I was just thinking this is the right thing to do," he said.
Through Dynamite Cares, he raised money and supplies to send back to folks still living in Puerto Rico. Then last year, Hurricane Ian hits southwest Florida. While it brought back the trauma of Maria, Carlos didn’t let that stop him from using Dynamite Cares to collect more donations to help victims.
“When you go through that, your whole mentality changes,” he said. “Even though you are going through a hardship, you still are trying to find a way to help.”
He also motivated the girls he coach to get involved. He said that’s the purpose of the dynamite volleyball club.
Rolon said, “It’s to help them become better citizens.”
That’s exactly why his friends and family wrote in to GMA asking them to honor him for GMA’s Gives Back program. He had no idea what he was walking into Wednesday morning. He got a special Bucs jersey, tickets to a game, and a $10,000 check. Of course, his first reaction when he got the check was about helping others, not himself.
“Thank you so much,” he said to Ginger Zee and the crowd. “We can help a lot of people with this money.”
