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Kickball fundraiser benefits cancer research

June 20, 2010  |  Posted by Jodie Wagner

with plenty of help from his friends, Asher Hendel raised more than $1,000 for the Kick-It fundraising campaign to benefit cancer research.

Asher, 11, and a handful of students from the Benjamin School played a series of kickball games May 16 at Mirasol Park in Palm Beach Gardens. A second series of games are planned for the fall.

“They had a blast,” said Asher’s mom, Damiann.

Asher, a rising seventh-grader at Benjamin, became involved with the Kick-It program last spring after hearing about it from another family while on a Caribbean cruise.

He made plans immediately to host a Kick-It fundraiser of his own.

“Asher jumped at the opportunity to start this concept here in Palm Beach Gardens,” Damiann Hendel said her son, who recruited nearly a dozen of his Benjamin School classmates for the fundraiser.

“… This is something he can do that is hands-on.”

Proceeds from all Kick-It fundraisers go to pediatric, adolescent and young adult cancer research. Funds are donated to the Children’s Tumor Foundation and CureSearch to fund research at the Children’s Oncology Group.

The Kick-It program was founded by 9-year-old cancer patient Quinn Clarke, who wanted to turn his favorite game of kickball into a fundraiser. Within days, more than 500 people came together and raised thousands of dollars.

Asher and his mom hope for similar success at home.

“We would love to open it up to the whole school and then get other kids to do it,” Damiann Hendel said.

http://youthsportsdaily.palmbeachpost.com/kickball/2010/07/09/kickball-fundraiser-benefits-cancer-research/