One Human Performance periodically awards scholarships to students who excel in both sports and academics.
From the heartland to Hollywood, Americans
are wearing White Bands in support of The
ONE Campaign, a coalition of the nation’s leading relief and
advocacy groups, to fight global AIDS and poverty. The ONE Campaign
began distributing White Bands to the general public through events
in over a dozen cities across the country.
one Human Peformance Center is pleased to announce our support
of the ONE Campaign. We have White Bands available while supplies last at the front desk
for anyone who is willing to sign the One Declaration, and we are also
donating $1 to the campaign for each signature we receive.
Founded by Lori Michaels, Reach Out, Inc., is a New Jersey based non-profit organization that educates and promotes awareness about the perils of illegal drugs, alcohol abuse, tobacco, crime, violence, prejudice, and life threatening diseases such as AIDS.
One of the most important components of the Reach Out program is to educate young people about the choices they must make on a daily basis, and to provide them with appropriate role models in order to demonstrate that positive choices result in positive outcomes.
OHP Client-Athlete Michael Pesci is the New Jersey recipient of the Presidential Spirit of Community Award for 2006. Michael, a sophomore at De Paul Catholic High School in Wayne, was honored for his annual "Perfect Pitch Home Run Derby" that has raised more than $100,000 over the past five years for disabled and disadvantaged individuals.
On Sunday, June 3rd, the Sixth Annual Perfect Pitch Home Run Derby took place at Gardner Field in Denville. Since its birth, it has raised over $150,000 for various organizations, including special-needs Boy Scouts, in the past six years.
Michael's project began shortly after he volunteered to help out with a baseball game for special-needs kids. "Their attitude and passion to play baseball, even though they were handicapped, was very inspiring," he said. Searching for a way to support these young athletes, he decided to hold a home-run hitting contest similar to one at a baseball camp he'd attended.
After Michael and a friend developed an action plan, they formed a nonprofit corporation, figured out how their derby would work, and began publicizing the event through a Web site (www.perfectpitchhrd.com) and speaking engagements. At the event, both kids and adults made donations for the opportunity to swing at seven pitches and win trophies for the longest hits.
Michael also has raised money by soliciting donations from corporations and holding raffles for sports memorabilia donated by former New York Yankees Don Larsen, Yogi Berra, and David Cone, and these legendary men have given their time to appear the event. The money raised so far has been used primarily to buy equipment for a local sports league for disabled kids, to finance trips for a Boy Scout troop of physically and mentally handicapped adults, and support sports programs for inner-city children.
For more information, please visit www.perfectpitchhrd.com. Congratulations, Mike, and well deserved! The OHP family could not be prouder of you.
Reach Out, Inc.