St. Christopher’s Hosts Dodgeball Tournament to Benefit Non-Profit Program

April 22, 2015 - PRLog -- On Saturday, May 09, 2015, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children will host the second annual dodgeball tournament at Lighthouse Field, located across the street from St. Christopher’s main location at 199 East Erie Avenue in Philadelphia. The tournament will begin at 11 a.m.

The event is open to the public. In order to participate, a team must register beforehand and must consist of five players with at least one female. The cost is $25 per team member and can be made out to St. Christopher’s Foundation for Children. Online donations can be made at weblink.donorperfect.com/ReachOutAndRead and are due by May 1.

All proceeds will benefit the St. Chris Reach Out and Read program. Reach Out and Read is a nonprofit organization of medical providers who promote early literacy and school readiness in pediatric exam rooms nationwide by integrating children’s books and educating parents on the importance of reading aloud into children’s well-visits. Through the program at St. Chris, each child is given a new book during a well-visit.

“Reading together as a family is so important and teaching fundamental reading skills to children at a young age is crucial,” says Hans Kersten, Medical Director of the Grow Clinic at St. Christopher’s. “Reach Out and Read at St. Chris is great because we’re not only educating families, we’re getting kids excited to read. They really enjoy receiving a new book at each appointment.

Dr. Kersten adds that participating in the dodgeball tournament is a fun way to support this tradition at St. Chris and other institutions.

“Dodgeball was a blast year – and very competitive,” says John DelGiorno, MD, resident at St. Christopher’s and organizer of the annual dodgeball tournament. “Our teams come out and get amped up about facing off against their colleagues, community members and families. And at the end of the day, they know that they supported a great cause that is helping kids throughout the community.”