Playing for Purpose

05/28/2013

Hi everyone. This Thursday the Nyack High School Art Honor Society will be having their induction ceremony. At the ceremony they will also be unveiling a mural dedicate to our cofounder and close friend Jesse Yanko. We would love to have one more ping pong tournament and thought this was a good opportunity to have it. We know its a very short amount of time for people to sign up but if we get enough people we would like to try to have another ping pong tournament in memory of Jesse. If you can definitely participate in the tournament and would like to, please constant us as soon as possible on Facebook or through out email [email protected]. The tournament would be free with only suggested donations which would go to the Making Headway Foundation.

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03/15/2013

The Ping Pong Tournament tonight was a huge success! We want to thank Turiellos, Harry's Burritos, Nyack Gourmet, Subway and Temptations for donating gift certificates that were used as prizes. We also want to thank SOS for letting us share their event, everyone else that made this event possible and everyone that came to support and donate to our cause. After a great night filled with competition and fun, we raised $323! All of this money is going to the Making Headway Foundation in memory of Jesse Yanko. Jesse was an amazing kid who filled any room with his positive presence, especially when he was playing a game of ping pong. Jesse loved ping pong and even played in our first tournament. We feel that the event tonight reflects what type of person Jesse was and that Jesse lives on through Playing for Purpose and everyone doing the things that he loved. Thank you again to everyone who has supported our cause and make sure to check out the pictures posted below of the tournament. Stay tuned because we plan on having another ping pong tournament before the end of the school year.

03/15/2013

03/14/2013

The event is going great so far!

03/14/2013

Only a couple more hour until the event! The even starts at 6 and the tournament will start at 6:30 to give some time for everyone to get there and for people to warm up. There will be signs leading to the room for people who don't know how to get to the wrestling room. See you there!

03/13/2013

This is a paragraph written by our cofounder Lucas Ruderman describing our current mission:

Playing for Purpose was founded by Jonah Grob, Josh Kayden, Jesse Yanko and Lucas Ruderman in 2010. The main goal of our non-profit organization was to send soccer balls and other sports equipment down to Nicaragua where rolled up garbage is used for entertainment. We have held two previous ping pong tournaments to help raise money for this cause. We have already sent over $600 worth of equipment to Nicaraguan cities and received pictures back with the children enjoying their new toys. On November 28th, it was announced that our best friend and co-founder Jesse Yanko had passed away after a brave battle against a very aggressive cancer. As we mourn the loss of a truly beautiful soul, we celebrate his life by carrying on the way he would want us to. We have decided to temporarily change the focus of Playing for Purpose for the rest of this year to raise money for cancer research. We have already hosted a FIFA Tournament in the early winter and it was a success. All of the proceeds from these events, bracelets and t-shirts will be donated to the Making Headway Foundation for cancer patients and their families. Lisa Yanko has provided us with the name of this organization and we honor her son tonight and many more nights for his courage, kindness and lively presence. He will never be forgotten.

12/24/2012

I want to take a second to thank all who donated and participated in our FIFA tournament. I know it was last minute but many of you still took the time to give a little to our cause and that means so much. We of Playing For Purpose would like to continue promoting events to raise money for the Making Headway Foundation. We support the Yanko family and wish them the absolute best and will be with them every step of the way. So we want to thank all again who have liked, shared or even took the second to acknowledge our cause, it is truly appreciated.

12/24/2012

12/18/2012

We are having a FIFA Tournament Wednesday December 19th through Friday December 21st in Nyack High Schools DaVinci Center. This is our first event after our cofounder Jesse Yanko passed away. Jesse was a huge part in Playing for Purpose sending more then 200 soccer balls to Nicaragua and FIFA was one of his favorite Xbox game. Because of this, we thought this event would be a good transition from sending soccer balls to Nicaragua to raising money for cancer research. We know this event isn't as accessible as our past events so make sure to say posted because we will be having another event outside of school after the new year. Thank you for your continued support.

12/08/2012

As some of you may know, our cofounder and close friend, Jesse Yanko, passed away last week after a bravely fought battle against cancer. Jesse was a great kid, an amazing friend and a big part in Playing for Purpose. He was a major factor in Playing for Purpose raising the money we used to send over 200 soccer balls to Nicaragua. After seeing what Jesse and his family had to go through, Playing for Purpose has decided that we are now going to be raising money for cancer research. We are going to be sending the money we raise to the Making Headway Foundation. It is a Foundation that supports children and their families from diagnosis through treatment and beyond. For more information you can visit their website www.makingheadway.org. For now, if you would like to donate to our cause you can mail us cash or a check (made out to cash) to our president’s house at 17 Haven Court Nyack, NY 10960. You can also give the donation to one of our members. In the future, we will be holding events so make sure to keep an eye out for updates. The money we raise is going towards a good cause and after loosing a close friend we realize how important this cause is. If you have any more questions you can email us at [email protected].

08/29/2012

Here is a picture of our second shipment we sent out in May to Nicaragua. The shipment consisted of 120 soccer balls and 10 pumps. We would like to thank Modell's for giving us a generous discount on the soccer balls; Kelly Harvey, Modell's representative; and Andy, Modell's store manager that helped us. We would also like to thank Terri Kayden and Andy Stewart for helping with ordering the soccer balls and Cleta Ciulla, coordinator of The Rockland County Sister City Project with San Marcos and Huehuete, Nicaragua, for helping us send the soccer balls to Nicaragua. Lastly we would like to thank all of the people who donated and supported our cause. With out you this never would have happened. We plan on sending out bigger and better shipments so stay tuned for upcoming events and fundraisers!