Number of Participants: 31
Hours Donated: 12
Value of Time Served: $3,143
Event Amount Raised: $2,100
Event Type: Sports & Recreation
Sport: Wrestling
Date: December 14, 2019
Location:
170 Rockaway Ave
Garden City, NY 11530
USA
About:
The Garden City Wrestling Program was honored to again raise funds for the I’m Not Done Yet Foundation in honor of Bobby Menges. Wrestling coaches Beihoff and Hepworth included philanthropic initiatives within the wrestling program as their way for athletes to become leaders outside the walls of the wrestling room. The team embraced the initiative and showed that athletes can serve as an inspiration in their respective sports as well as in the greater community.
Again this year, the GCHS Wrestling team hosted the GC DUALS for five visiting teams within the New York metro area and Long Island. The team created posters and promoted the event in the school and outside the community for support. The wrestlers pre-sold raffle tickets to teachers, students, friends and family. The team also met with Mrs. Liz Menges, Bobby’s mother, learning more about him and his mission. At the event, information about the foundation and their programs were provided to residents, visiting teams and their families.
Bobby Menges was diagnosed at 5 with stage 4 neuroblastoma, and had lived with cancer for most of his life. He was on the was on the Garden City Wrestling team in middle school and high school, started a rock band with friends, composed an experimental suite of songs based on the Iliad and raised money for medical research.
Bobby recognized and experienced a critical gap in care and support for adolescent and young adult patients. He devoted time and energy to address this void throughout his own cancer treatment. And although he initiated efforts to bring his ideas to reality, he did not survive to see them. He died in September 2017, a 19-year-old sophomore at Duke University. The mission of the I’m Not Done Yet Foundation is to address the voids Bobby became acutely aware of as he transitioned from pediatric patient to an AYA patient.
The funds raised at the GC Duals Wrestling Event will provide increased opportunities to create an adolescent/young adult (AYA) treatment space at the Cancer Center for Kids at NYU Winthrop Hospital, recognizing their need for privacy, cutting edge technology, quiet work areas and social space for visitors.
For more information about the foundation visit: www.ImNotDoneYetFoundation.org
