FOR THE KIDS
Stickball tourney in Troy to aid homeless children
TROY, N.Y. » An event in June will give people the opportunity to enjoy a game of stickball while helping out homeless children.
This year the Friends of Little Italy and Joseph’s House are partnering with local businesses, community organizations and schools to raise awareness and much needed help for the dozens of homeless children who reside at Joseph’s House and Shelter in Troy.
Local businessman Rocco DeFazio came up with the idea for a Stick it To Hunger stickball tournament in Little Italy in 2009 in conjunction with Stamp Out Hunger, a nationwide program led by federal postal work- ers that set a local record in 2015 when mail carriers collected about 25,000 pounds of donated food. Members of The Arc of Rensselaer County took home the Golden Stickball Bat two years ago after the organization collected more than 1,000 pounds of food.
Last year, members of the Troy Uniformed Fire Fighters Union were honored with the Golden Stickball Bat.
DeFazio said he is looking for eight teams to participate for the prized golden stickball bat. DeFazio said that this year organizers are calling the fundraiser event “Stick It to Child Homelessness Stickball Tournament”, since they are focusing on child homelessness this year.
The 10th annual stickball tournament will be from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Flag Day on Sunday, June 10 at the Little Italy Market Place on Hill Street, between Liberty and Washington streets. De-
Fazio said they are looking for participants and others to donate shoes, socks, coloring books, crayons, personal hygiene products for children, small pillows and towels to help the children living in Joseph House and anyone who donates an item will receive a small American Flag to place on their mailbox along free gelato.
DeFazio said that he
hopes that people will come out and enjoy the tournament fundraiser as a way to fill the void for Troy’s annual Flag Day Parade ending after last year and so that people can help the homeless children and their families. Officials from Joseph’s House said that there were roughly 120 children living in homeless shelters pro-
vided by Joseph House in 2017.
“People don’t realize it but child homelessness is the fastest growing number of homeless in the country and part of it is the opioid problem,” explained DeFazio.
“We’re very fortunate to have [the Friends of Little Italy] group support us and our efforts to help house people that find themselves in a situation that they’re no longer housed and particularly the families of children,” added Patti Tullgren, Director of Development at Joseph’s House in Troy.
Guests who attend the event in June will also have the opportunity to enjoy music all day provided by The Haymakers and DJ Luke along with food samples from places like Dinosaur BBQ, Berben and Wolff’s along with DeFazio’s Pizzeria. Children in attendance will also be able to enjoy activities like face painting.
DeFazio said that some of the teams participating this year will be the Adirondack Community College Baseball Team, Friends and Family of the Menands School District, DeFazio’s Pizzeria, Key Bank and The Crisafulli Allstars.
“We hope this event will bring people out to celebrate Flag Day and support a very good cause,” said DeFazio. “We’re looking for a few more teams and companies that want to try to get that Golden Stickball Bat for raising the most items. This [event] brings me back to my youth, playing stick- ball in the market and having other people get introduced to stickball is great to see.”
Any teams or companies looking to participate as a team this year can contact Rocco DeFazio at rdefazio66@gmail.com or call (518) 274-8866.