College basketball stars help kids with cancer

‘Swish for Kids’ clinic raises funds for Loccisano Foundation

January 22, 2015 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Basketball players and kids had fun at last year’s “Swish for Kids” event. The children in front are holding a portrait of Francesco Loccisano, whose death inspired his mother to start a foundation in his memory. Photo courtesy St. Ephrem Basketball/Youth Program

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Children with cancer will be getting expert advice on how to improve their basketball skills at a special sports clinic taking place Jan. 25 in Bay Ridge.

Members of the men’s basketball teams from Saint Francis College and Mount Saint Vincent College will be participating in the Fourth Annual “Swish for Kids Basketball Classic,” a sports clinic which will to take place at Saint Patrick Catholic Church, 9511 Fourth Ave. on Sunday, starting at 10 a.m.

“Swish for Kids,” is sponsored by the Saint Ephrem Basketball/Youth Program with support from Investors Bank.

The event has a dual purpose, according to organizers, who said one of the goals is to help kids with cancer enjoy a fun day out. The other purpose: the event serves as a fundraiser for the Francesco Loccisano Memorial Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides monetary help, rides to chemotherapy sessions and other forms of assistance to families of children battling cancer.

The college sports stars will be conducting the basketball clinic from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Following the clinic, the children will be treated to a pizza party. There will be an awards ceremony after the party.

Beginning at 2:30 p.m., boys and girls from St. Columbia, St. Ephrem, St. Margaret, St. Nicholas, St. Patrick and St. Thomas Aquinas churches will compete in a basketball tournament that runs until 7 p.m.

Frank Stella, chairman of “Swish for Kids,” said the event has great meaning.

“Watching the children and college athletes on the basketball court is one of the most inspiring sporting activities I have ever seen. Magical moments occur as the enthusiastic coaches and players help the boys and girls gain the confidence to dribble, pass, and shoot the basketball, as well as sink their shots,” he said.

Stella knows what the kids are going through. He is a cancer survivor. “Being a cancer survivor myself, I wanted to give kids and their families a chance to forget what they are going through and what they have been through, even for a few hours,” he said.

The Francesco Loccisano Memorial Foundation is named in memory of Francesco “Frankie” Loccisano, a Xaverian High School student from Dyker Heights who died of cancer in 2007, two weeks after his 17th birthday. The foundation was started by his mother, Camille Loccisano.

Michael Cama, a junior loan officer at Investors Bank, is a Xaverian graduate and knew Frankie Loccisano from school. “He was a nice kid. He had a great sense of humor,” he told the Brooklyn Eagle.

Cama, whose best friend is Anthony Bruno, Frankie Loccisano’s cousin, has been a volunteer with the foundation since the beginning and continues to help out at the organization’s events. The foundation holds an annual golf tournament as well as a dinner, called “Hopefest,” to raise funds and awareness for the need for research into cures for pediatric cancers.

“The ‘Hopefest’ dinner is incredible. Kids with cancer are always there and their courage brings tears to your eyes,” Cama said.

“Swish for Kids” is open to children currently battling cancer, kids in remission, or youngsters who are cancer survivors. For more information on the event, email Stella at [email protected].