A little girl’s spirit lives on in the game of dodgeball.
Schuylkill Valley Middle School hosted its fourth annual Dodgeball Tournament benefit on May 25 to honor the memory of Nikki Overman, who died after heart surgery complications at the age of 11 in 2004. All proceeds benefit the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. This year the fundraiser benefits the cancer center.
“We started it because my daughter (Nikki) died at CHOP four years ago and so the kids wanted to do something in memory of my daughter,” said Nikki’s mother, Cathy Overman, a teacher at Schuylkill Valley Middle School.
“It makes me feel good to raise money to help the children so that families don’t have to go through what I go through,” said Overman.
During the tournament, Overman reported that they raised more than $3,000 for the CHOP cancer center. As of May 27, $3,635 was raised, and they will continue collecting until June 1. Funds were raised from selling paper daisies, which were hung on the walls of the gym lobby. They also sold daisy stickers so teachers could wear jeans to school that day. Each team of six kids donated at $10 for each team member in order to participate. About 180 students in fifth through eighth grades participated in the tournament.
“Why dodgeball? It’s something that the kids love. It’s easy to organize and we can have so many teams going at once,” said Overman.
Walking into the noisy gym, students shouted and cheered as the teams battled it out in fast paced dodgeball matches. Each team wore their own matching team T-shirts. Some painted their faces.
“I love watching the kids play, how happy they are,” said Overman. “It also makes me feel really good that they’re being generous, they’re raising money for a good cause and they all are very touched by my daughter’s story but also the thought of sick kids in a hospital. They’re very generous.”
She hopes the students learn to be giving, kind and to focus on service in their life, giving to others.
Participants received pizza and water, donated by alumni. Also,
Via a Facebook page, many alumni donated funds toward pizza and water for the participants. Remaining funds go to CHOP.
“I thought it was cool that the community was also involved,” said Overman.
Schuylkill Valley sophomore Donald Ballou, 16, was in seventh grade when he helped Overman establish the dodgeball tournament four years ago because he wanted to do something in Nikki’s memory.
“I never thought it would make it past the first year. It’s a tradition now. It’s really cool to see how it grew,” said Ballou. “It’s really awesome.”
Donations will be collected until June 1. Send donations to Cathy Overman, Schuylkill Valley Middle School, 114 Ontelaunee Drive, Leesport, PA 19533. Make checks payable to CHOP.