WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MARCH 22, 2018 29
BUZZ
Glendale autism charity meets the Brooklyn Nets
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
At the Brooklyn Nets’ state-of-theart
practice facility overlooking
the Manhattan skyline in Sunset
Park, forward Rondae Hollis-Jeff erson
made an unexpected friend when
Glendale-based nonprofi t Play4Autism
visited the team’s practice on March 15.
As practice came to an end, Hollis
Jeff erson walked over to the corner
of the expansive gym where four autistic
children and their families had
been watching for more than an hour.
He said hello and posed for pictures
with everyone, but 2-year-old Isabella
wanted to get on the court.
Against the wishes of other Nets
personnel, Hollis-Jefferson jogged
back out onto the fl oor with a beaming
smile and Isabella in close pursuit.
“That’s what she had been wanting
to do since we got here: she wanted to
run out there,” said Isabella’s mother,
Stephanie Graver. “That was really
nice that she got to do that. She’s in her
prime when she’s out in the open, so I
know that she enjoyed this.”
Founded in 2012 by Greg Vasicek,
Play4Autism raises money and
awareness to support local autistic
children and adults through various
sporting events and partnerships with
charitable organizations. The charity
also helps provide sports programs
that teach valuable life skills through
physical activity and engagement.
Vasicek has organized many events
in which the children in his programs
get to meet professional athletes, but he
said he doesn’t oft en see what played out
between Hollis-Jeff erson and Isabella.
“This creates memories, but it’s also
the self-esteem, it’s that boost that the
kids get,” Vasicek said. “Like with one
of the players bringing little Bella out
there running around, that’s not going
to happen much. I have to give kudos
to the Nets — this is a class act.”
Nearly the entire team took a few
minutes to come visit with the families,
including well-known players like
D’Angelo Russell, DeMarre Carroll
and Spencer Dinwiddie, as well as Joe
Harris, Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen,
Quincy Acy and Jahlil Okafor.
Anthony Ululati, whose 21-year-old
son Joseph seemed to be studying the
shooting form of Harris as he took
jump shots a few feet away during
practice, said that opportunities like
this allow parents to refl ect on how far
their children have come.
“Joseph loves basketball, that’s one of
his favorite pastimes and he goes to the
schoolyard every weekend,” Ululati
said. “When he was little, he was all
over the place and we never even
had eye contact. Now he’s actually
in a much better place, so as a parent
you’re really happy.”
Aleena Rodriguez said her
12-year-old son Marcus is also a
huge basketball fan, but the day
was much bigger than just the
sport.
“It’s definitely great, especially for
children with autism to be a part
of the society and accepted and be
able to do this as a group, it’s fun,”
Rodriguez said.
Paddy and Sheila Vega brought their
7-year-old son Jariel, who is a Nets superfan.
Sheila said Jariel has gone to several
Nets games, but when she told Jariel he
was going to meet the players he made
sure to memorize all of their names.
He came to practice that day with his
Nets hat on and never stopped smiling.
“That smile on his face brings me
joy,” said Paddy Vega. “I’m just holding
in the tears so nobody will see.”
Ridgewood middle school raises thousands of ‘pennies for patients’
Students and staff of I.S. 77 in
Ridgewood set a new school
record in 2018 by raising
thousands of dollars to help cancer
patients. In their annual ‘Pennies
for Patients’ fundraising event, the
generous members of the I.S. 77 community
raised a total of $5,092.15 to
be donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma
Society.
The effort broke the previous
school record set in 2017 by
more than $1200, according to
the co-coordinator of the drive,
Scott Horodyski. The 6th Grade
winning class was Class 606 with
$296.49. Class 702 took the title in
7th Grade with $346.80. In the 8th
Grade, Class 806 raised $452.96
and Class 911 brought in $279.69.
In approximately 15 years of the
‘Pennies for Patients’ program, I.S.
77 has raised $32,895 for cancer
patients.
Photos by Ryan Kelley/QNS
Marcus Rodriguez poses with Nets forward Rondae Hollis-Jeff erson after the
team's practice on March 15.
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