Dobbs Ferry Residents Gather To Kick For A Cause

On the first Saturday of this upcoming November, a kickball tournament will be held for Dobbs Ferry resident Jacob Moon at Gould Park. Jacob will be a 10 year old boy this upcoming September. He has a life-threatening disease called Sanfilippo, type 3 of mucopolysaccharidoses. Only 1 in 70,000 children are diagnosed with Sanfilippo. The disease affects the central nervous system. Also, the brain isn’t able to break down cellular waste, clogging up the system, and damaging the brain, causing the victims to forget things like walking, talking or communicating. There is no cure.

The kickball tournament is called MOONBALL, and takes place the first Saturday every November, since last year. The founders are, Christine Moon, Patti Hartnett and Brooke Bass. The idea first started as baseball, but the organizers really just wanted to raise money and awareness, and bring the community together. They then thought of kickball, because they could modify the ability levels, for the ages and it’s something that’s easier than swinging a bat. All different ages can play, and there are more fun activities to do also.

Being that it takes place at Gould Park, kids can also play basketball, go on the playground, run around, and even jump on bouncy castles rented for the event. The numbers for participants would like to be raised by at least 30%, or 3 more teams, and there were about 200 participants last year. It is $10 per person to play, and you need 10 people per team of your choosing. To help achieve their goals, they have promoted the event for this year in many ways. From insta and facebook pages, banners, and even a website in the works! Patti Hartnett says, “It was such a fun idea that we have had many requests for a grown up tournament too!”

The Moon family appreciates this event endlessly. Bill, Christine, Ella, Jacob, and Matthew Moon, all had a great time. Matthew and Ella can both agree that having Jacob as a brother can be overwhelming and sad at times, but they try to always stay happy, for Jacob. As the organizers say about the event, “Lets Kick Sanfilippo Syndrome to the Moon!”