Playing for Purpose

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.

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.

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].