Paul Mulcahy: So much to be Grateful 4
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (BVM) – Very few people would watch their home burn to the ground and turn around and decide to start an organization based on gratitude. That is the case of Rutgers basketball junior Paul Mulcahy.
When Mulcahy was 14, his home caught on fire in a freak accident and left his entire family, including his grandparents, homeless.
“It was tough, but we’ve been very blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by really great people who helped us out along the way,” he said. “I’ve always held that close to my heart, the people that helped me, helped my family.”
The tragedy made Mulcahy take a step back and reflect on what really mattered. At age 19, he founded the Grateful 4 Foundation.
“Gratitude’s been a huge role in my life, it still continues to,” he said. “To a degree, I guess that sparked the foundation. I just wanted to help as many people as I can with whatever platform God’s given me.”
The platform Mulcahy has capitalized on since he was a child is basketball.
“Both my parents were good athletes, all my siblings are good athletes,” he said. “We played everything growing up. I really just loved basketball. Basketball has always been my thing.”
He credits his high school coach, Mergin Sina, with building him up both as a player and as a person.
“I was really fortunate; I had the best high school coach I think anyone could have from a mentor standpoint,” Mulcahy said. “[Sina] played in Europe for a long time. He played at Seton Hall and Rhode Island. He’s got a really strong basketball background and he taught me how to play the game the right way. I still talk to him weekly. He helps me in life, school, family. He’s really close with my family.”
Along with his coaches, Mulcahy tries to absorb all he can from his teammates on the court.
“I’ve had some really good teammates throughout the years that I try to learn from, especially when they’re older than me,” he said. “I try to either not make the same mistakes they did or try to get ahead of the game and soak up as much as I can from them.”
Realizing the magnitude of blessings he has been dealt over the years sparked an interest in sharing the attitude of gratitude he had come to experience and acknowledge.
“That’s kind of what the foundation is around,” he said. “Gratitude, appreciating and being grateful for the things you do have. It was just to spread the idea of gratitude and inspire the chain reaction of selfless acts. Letting that kind of shape your perspective of the day.”
With NIL deals rapidly growing around the NCAA and the high school levels, Mulcahy has capitalized on the potential fundraising opportunities for the Grateful 4 Foundation.
“Now with NIL, I’ve been able to use my platform to raise money of my own,” he said. “We’re getting to the point where we’re going to start legitimate fundraising. I’m going through the paperwork right now to create a legit 501(c)(3) which would make it a legit nonprofit with tax deductions.”
The organization’s primary focus is to increase people’s awareness of gratitude and how they can share that with those around them. As the Grateful 4 Foundation grows, Mulcahy hopes to raise money to give to other organizations.
“The money we do raise is going to go to other foundations we believe in,” he said. “There’s only so much I can really do right now, but I do have a platform I would like to use. Once we get to a spot where I have more time, which I’m hoping is next year, we’re going to be able to do our own thing which I’m really excited about.”
People looking to get involved can do so in various ways.
“Just share our message,” Mulcahy said. “That’s a way people can get word out about the foundation and spread gratitude. We’re going to start promoting what we’ve done and what we’re doing, what we’re planning to do.
“We have a store called grateful4shop.myspreadshop.com. All the money that gets raised through that store, 100% of the proceeds go to a different foundation. We’re doing six different foundations for six different months. The first month, all that money is going to the Jimmy V Foundation. Right now, we’re donating to the Children’s Hospital in New Brunswick.”
While he’s hoping the foundation takes off, his primary focus is basketball. While the Scarlet Knights didn’t make it as far in the 2022 March Madness tournament as they would have liked, Mulcahy plans to work harder in anticipation of next season.
“Obviously, we didn’t get as far as we wanted,” he said. “It was an up and down year. I’m grateful for it and motivated going into this next year to do a lot more than what we did and get to experience a lot more than we did.”
As for his future beyond Rutgers, Mulcahy is hoping to continue with basketball.
“My main focus is to play in the NBA,” he said. “That’s my goal. I take that very seriously and it’s something I believe in. My goal is to play basketball as long as I can.”
