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Mostly Cloudy Making a difference off the field
Hewlett lax players raise money and awareness for autism
When Hewlett High School junior Jeremy Tarica’s father’s friend from high school, Larry Haber, told him about his organization, Ascent Youth Alliance to Battle Autism, a program that raise awareness and money for autism and athletics, Tarica knew it would be a great way to get the Hewlett-Woodmere community involved.
Haber’s organization started after his youngest son, Connor, was diagnosed with autism. “We realized our life was going to change and we had the capability to get involved and make a difference,” he said. “We wanted to raise money for the community and not make it all about Conor.”
The Haber boys Sean, Ryan and Kyle, with help from their father, decided to get into the memorabilia business. Proceeds benefited their organization. Kyle, who plays lacrosse for Syosset High School, wanted to get his team involved with the organization and Goals 4 Autism & Saves 4 Autism was born.
Tarica took the idea back to Hewlett and first approached his coaches, Chris Passuello and John Palladino, with the idea to start “Bulldogs Goals 4 Autism & Bulldogs Saves 4 Autism.” He and his teammates would raise money for Ascent Youth Alliance to Battle Autism and the Hewlett Parent Lacrosse Association. The money would be used for new equipment and trips for both the boy and girl’s lacrosse teams.
“It was easy to start off with the lacrosse team because it’s a major sport in this school,” Tarica said. “But we ultimately hope to spread it to other sports.”
So far, according to Tarica, $6,000 has been raised. “Out of the money collected, $5,000 of it has gone to autism and $1,000 to the Parent Lacrosse Association,” Tarica said. “What’s great is that people are looking more to help autism and that’s what we like.”
Currently, there are more than 90 student volunteers in Hewlett High School. With so many volunteers to be in charge of, Tarica enlisted the help of his teammate Sam Martorella who is responsible for the lacrosse team volunteers. “We ask for money and tell people about the charity,” Martorella said. “It feels great to give back and it’s a great charity so I hope everyone catches on to it.”
