Grand Avenue student helps charity event

Eighth-grader donates cards for charity

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Grand Avenue Middle School eighth-grader Luke Fischetti was recognized by the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School Board of Education on Jan. 12 for his volunteerism during the Bellmore Lions Club Polar Express event in December.

The annual Polar Express is a free event for children run by the Bellmore Lions Club in partnership with the high school district. In the past, the Lions have hosted close to 750 children. Leading up to the event, the school community collects toys and gift cards, and the culinary arts program at John F. Kennedy High School bakes and decorates food. Santa and Mrs. Claus and other holiday characters typically make appearances.

Spending $200 of his own money, Luke, 13, of North Merrick, gave baseball card gift packages to the children who attended the event. His donations were matched by D’Angelo Sports, a sporting-goods collectible store in Wantagh.

Luke runs his own sports card business on Instagram, under the username @ripping_cards30. Also active on TikTok, with more than 13,000 followers, the young entrepreneur has attracted a large following on many social media platforms.

Luke explained that he became interested in sports cards after watching his grandfather collect packs of them at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Inspired by videos of people doing good deeds, Luke combined his passion for sports cards and charity to give back to his community. When Luke was 8, he raised $3,000 for cancer and shaved his head for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

“I know people aren’t as lucky as, me and that they can’t do the same things as me,” he said, “so I feel like it’s my duty to give back to people. I want to be a good person in the world.”

“He’s always been a charitable kid,” said Luke’s father, Jason Fischetti. “It just comes out of him.”

Jason believes his son’s sense of charity and empathy came from spending time in a hospital each month for blood work until he was 5, while being treated for human respiratory syncytial virus and croup. The disorders cause swelling in the airways and make breathing difficult. According to Jason, seeing other pediatric patients at the hospital receiving chemotherapy and other treatments for ailments affected Luke, prompting him to want to help them.

Jason added that Luke had also recently helped a young boy who lives in Kansas whom he met online. The boy shares Luke’s passion for collecting sports cards, but was unable to collect many because of financial limitations. Luke worked with D’Angelo Sports to send his long-distance friend $200 worth of cards.

“He just has a huge heart,” Luke’s mother, Antonietta Fischetti, said. “He’s really something special.”

Antonietta said that all of Luke’s volunteer work comes from his own ideas. He thought of setting up a baseball card station at the Polar Express event after overhearing his parents talking about the event.

In anticipation of next year’s Polar Express, he has already started collecting baseball card packs.

“My hope is inspiring people,” Luke said. “It’s like a domino effect — when I donate, other people will see and want to donate as well.”