Madison Volleyball Raises Money For 'Sammy's Friends Foundation'

After notching their 16th win in 17 tries this season on Friday, October 19th with a victory against Morristown Beard, the Madison Volleyball team added a more important “win” off of the court by hosting a “Serve-A-Thon” in order to raise money for the Madison-based charity, “Sammy’s Friends Foundation.” 

Sammy Su, of Madison, was a sweet baby boy who loved cuddles, bath time, and the good oldies songs. He was also a child with complex medical diagnosis including Infantile Spasms and Williams Syndrome. In his short journey on earth, Sammy had touched many people’s hearts. In loving memory of him, this foundation is established to carry on his legacy and to help other special children like him.

Sammy’s Friends is founded by Samuel’s parents, Shaun and Yichien, of Madison. Shaun is a clinical research scientist for a local pharmaceutical company while Yichien is a pediatric speech language pathologist.

In 2011, their precious baby boy, Samuel, was diagnosed with Infantile Spasms at 4 months old. Infantile Spasms is a devastating childhood epilepsy disorder and is notoriously difficult to control. Children with this diagnosis typically face a multitude of developmental delays and challenges. After undergoing trials of various anti-epilepsy drugs, Samuel finally became seizure free with a ketogenic diet at 8 months old.

Samuel’s parents sadly lost Samuel at 16 months in June 2012 due to an acute, viral induced onset of Pancreatitis. During his journey, Samuel’s parents have met various wonderful doctors, nurses, and most important of all, developmental therapists who helped Samuel achieve his full potential. As they recalled their loving memory of Samuel, they decided to extend Samuel’s legacy by helping families to provide the best possible care and therapies for their special children so that they may also live their each day to the fullest.

The Madison Volleyball program and Booster Club has an annual service project and team captains, Kayla Fennelly, Jen Vorel, and Maddy Watson, agreed that this Foundation was a very worthwhile cause and organized the event. The Serve-A-Thon involved players seeking monetary pledges for the number of accurate Volleyball Serves in a timed two minute period. The Varsity, JV, and Freshman teams raised over $600 that will be donated directly to Sammy's Friends Foundation.  

The Winners for most successful serves on each of the Madison Volleyball teams were:

Varsity

Winner- Olivia Alexander

Runner Up- Kelly Quinn

Junior Varsity

Winner- Erin Berger

Runner Up- Victoria Worthington

Freshman

Winner- Katherine Clark

Runner Up- Taylor Camp

The Madison Volleyball Booster Club is indebted to the following local businesses who donated prizes to the winners of the contest- Jane's Nails, located at 220 Main St and Madison Hill Nails, located at 349 Main Street, both in Madison. For those interested in finding out more information about Sammy’s Friends Foundation, please go to the web site at http://sammysfriendsfoundation.org/