Jeremy Feder's All-Star Charity Baseball Tournament Debuts Sept. 16-18 in Oceanside, N.Y.

Opening Night is Friday, Sept. 16, at 6:30 pm in Oceanside, N.Y. for Tournament Created by Middle School Student Benefitting America’s VetDogs

OCEANSIDE, N.Y. , (MMD Newswire) September 12, 2016 — Twelve-year-old Jeremy Feder of Oceanside took a lifelong passion for baseball and a desire to help our nation’s injured veterans and transformed them into a concept for a charity baseball tournament. He and his parents, Laura and Ira, took their vision to Oceanside Little League (OLL), where Jeremy has played baseball since he is 4, and together the Feder family and OLL are hosting Jeremy Feder’s All-Star Charity Baseball Tournament, on Friday, Sept. 16, through Sunday, Sept. 18, in Oceanside. The opening ceremonies will take place at 6:30 pm, Sept. 16, at Wrights Field, 264 Mott St., Oceanside.

All proceeds raised from the tournament will be donated to America’s VetDogs, a Smithtown-based non-profit organization that provides professionally-trained service dogs at no cost to disabled veterans. and first responders. The organization assists veterans on Long Island and around the nation.

“This started as an idea for my “mitzvah” project for my bar mitzvah, but grew into something much bigger -a community event that is good for everyone involved,” said Feder, a High Honor Roll student and travel baseball player who is in eighth grade at Oceanside Middle School (OMS). He noted that some of the service dogs will be attending opening night festivities as well. Great interviews and photo opportunities are available for reporters during opening night on Sept. 16!!!!

The tournament will consist of teams, ages 8-11, from Long Island and NYC . They will be playing on Oceanside fields the weekend of Sept. 16-18. Each age group will play three games and a fourth championship game. The cost to enter the tournament is $500/ team. These fees, as well as proceeds from food, drinks and raffles sold at the tournament’s opening night, will go directly to the charity. “This is a wonderful fundraiser that Oceanside Little League is proud to be co-hosting,” said Thomas Collins, president of OLL.

Feder, a catcher who plays baseball on a local travel team, as well as OLL, has always had a desire to help others. After having been picked for Oceanside’s elite Williamsport baseball team, Collins, his former coach, asked Jeremy to assist him in coaching younger children just starting out on the baseball field. Feder also volunteered at 10 years old to help coach within the Challenger division of nearby Long Beach Little League – a division for developmentally disabled ball players.

But, what turned Feder’s attention toward our nation’s veterans was when he joined the Patriot Club at OMS in seventh grade. This club works on projects and fundraisers to help injured soldiers. Both the OMS and Oceanside High School Patriot Clubs will be volunteering at the tournament’s opening night events. Students will be receiving community service credits for their involvement.

“We thought this tournament was a great fit for America’s VetDogs. It’s original and allows kids to have fun while helping a good cause,” said Katherine Fritz, director of development for America’s VetDogs. “Everything we raise from community events helps those wounded veterans whose quality of life will be dramatically improved by having a service dog assist them in their everyday activities.”

Confirmed dignitaries attending opening ceremonies are the following: Councilman Anthony D’Esposito, 4th District; Assemblyman Brian Curran; Senator Todd Kaminsky; and County Executive Ed Mangano.

Local sponsors include: Amity Harbor Sports, Amityville; Art Photographers, Cedarhurst; Computer Surgeon, Plainview; Doughology, Lynbrook; Kombert Caterers, Oceanside; Letters by Lonnie, Woodmere; PIP Printing and Marketing Services, Oceanside; and Rolling River Day Camp, East Rockaway.

About America’s VetDogs(r)

Since 2003, America’s VetDogs has trained and placed guide and service dogs to provide independence, enhanced mobility and companionship to veterans with disabilities from all eras. In 2015, VetDogs opened its programs to first responders, including of fire, police, and emergency medical personnel. America’s VetDogs is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization founded by the Guide Dog Foundation that relies on contributions from generous individuals, corporations, service clubs, and foundations to fund its mission to help those who have served our country live with dignity and independence. It costs over $50,000 to breed, raise, train, and place one assistance dog, but America’s VetDogs provides its services completely free of charge to the individual.

America’s VetDogs was the second assistance dog school in the United States to be accredited by both the International Guide Dog Federation and Assistance Dogs International.

To learn more or to donate, visit www.VetDogs.org

Media Contact: Laura Koss-Feder 516-536-9187 - office; 516-984-5952 - cell; [email protected] - email

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