Fordham Baseball Helps the Launch of the Make A Difference Baseball League in Jamaica

(Photos courtesy of Jillian Nelson/The Loukoumi Make A Difference Foundation)

Bronx, N.Y. – Back in October, the Fordham baseball team joined up with The Loukoumi Make A Difference Foundation, which rallies over 50,000 kids nationwide to do good deeds.  Now 13-year-old Dean Katsoris had an idea to collect baseball equipment for a school on the island of Jamaica.
 
The school, which lacked the resources for a baseball program, was identified by one of the Loukoumi Foundation's good deed partners, The Joey Foundation, who has supported this school in the past, including raising funds to build a new roof for the school. And so, on National Make A Difference Day, Loukoumi teamed up with the Fordham Baseball team and Coach Kevin Leighton to collect baseball equipment during the Fordham/Georgetown Football game.

 
Organized by Fordham University Dean Greg Pappas, Fordham's Rose Hill campus was the second stop on the annual Loukoumi Good Deed Bus Tour, which makes stops throughout the New York area on Make A Difference Day.
 
The project was so successful that enough bats and balls were collected for six teams and so The Loukoumi Foundation and The Joey Foundation are now sponsoring the Make A Difference Baseball League for the Primary Schools in Hanover, Jamaica.
 
"The Loukoumi Foundation encourages kids to make a difference in their own special ways for projects that mean something to them," said Nick Katsoris, Fordham alumnus and President of the Loukoumi Foundation, "and so when Dean and I were discussing what to do for Make A Difference Day, since he loves baseball so much, we thought, wouldn't it be great to help other kids enjoy the sport as well."

 

Dean and a team of friends also helped raise money for the project and were able to purchase six sets of bases for the league.
 
Ann Torcivia, President of the Joey Foundation, visited Jamaica this week to launch the league with an opening ceremony. "It was an amazing and emotional event," said Torcivia, who has done countless good deeds for the schools of Jamaica and others with the Joey Foundation, named after her son.