Hampton Bays Students Go 'Above And Beyond' for Charity

On Saturday, several  students will be honored by the nonprofit Kids Stock the House charity for helping to organize the inaugural , being held at , starting at 10:30 a.m.

According to Donna Christina Oliverio, the founder and program supervisor of Kids Stock the House, the event was inspired by Billy Dzanoucakis, an eighth-grader at .

Oliverio said Dzanoucakis came up with the idea for a recreational, non-competitive, community softball-a-thon just a few weeks ago and enlisted his friends to make it happen.

"The softball-a-thon has since taken on a life of its own, as it is inspiring people from different areas and of various ages and professions to come together to support families battling serious medical crises," Oliverio said.

The students worked to get people to put together teams from all over, including from the Bronx and Deer Park to participate, he said. Teams vary, some are made up of students, nurses, police officers and mothers. 

junior Alex Lane was also instrumental in the event, Oliverio said. 

Lane will be given a Most Charitable Player of the Game Award on Saturday for not only recruiting his cousin to fly in from Vermont and his other cousin from Jersey to play on his team, called, "All Stars with a Cause," but for getting his orthodontist to become a corporate sponsor of our organization, having T-shirts made up for his team and getting Yankee tickets donated for a raffle, as well as cases of soda and hot dog buns. He also sold charity bracelets.

"In short, he has spread the spirit of volunteerism," Oliverio said.

In addition to giving props to Lane and Dzanoucakis for their hard work, Stock the House is also honoring students, Daniela Gutierrez, Ronald Aucapina, Kim Castro, Erica Kane, and Jocie Aucapina, an 11-year-old who Oliverio said is receiving the Youngest Junior Leader in the History of Kids Stock the House award.

For more information on the softball-a-thon,