By Gary Curreri

Ben Koos couldn’t have been happier with the recent charity beach volleyball Pro/Am Tournament on Deerfield Beach.

The Embrace Life Children’s Foundation teamed up with Dig the Beach Volleyball and raised more than $5,000 to go towards helping children in the community and those proceeds went directly to helping the Salah Foundation Children’s Hospital at Broward Health.

“The event was a good start to hopefully an annual event,” said Koos, the tournament organizer. “We had over 100 players come out between Saturday and Sunday, which made for great viewing for the fans and a great time for the players.”

The inaugural event featured two days of competition, including Men’s/Women’s Doubles for both professional and amateur players, while Sunday included Junior Boys/Girls 12-18 and Co-Ed Doubles.

Several community sponsors joined in, including Jersey Mike’s Subs and Harmless Harvest Coconut Water, who fed and hydrated the players. Other local businesses supporting the event included Rox Volleyball as a Title Sponsor, Pediatrix, Island Water Sports, Hypower Electric and International Union of Police Associations.

Koos’ wife, Carolyne, who helps run the charity, also deemed the event a success.

“We ended up with 100 players, which wasn’t bad for the first time,” she said. “With the funding we received, we have been able to outfit the NICU and Pediatric Unit with some much-needed items on their wish list and also pay for transportation for the sickle cell pediatric patients to Camp Boggy Creek, so those patients can forget their medical issues and just have fun for a bit.

“We just had a Spring Fling visit filled with bunnies, chicks, and spring goodie bags and toys for all of the pediatric patients from oncology, peds floor, to PICU and NICU,” she continued. “It is a joy and a blessing to help these families with whatever they need from help with medical bills to fun group outings with patients to shows, or tickets to events, funding for medical research, or day-to-day needs, like clothes, or computers.”

Carolyne Koos said the organization does what they can to try and improve the lifestyle. She and her husband started the non-profit charity organization after their 2-year old son, Christian, passed away recently after a long battle with a rare neurological disease. His genetic disease, known as Leukodystrophy, can affect anyone from a newborn baby to an elderly person.

“Whatever makes their life a little easier while they work on getting better, we are happy to do,” said Carolyne, who would bring gifts to the Broward General Medical Center and Miami Children’s Hospital during her son’s stays “just to see a smile on a child’s face.”

Carolyne speaks with the child life advocates at each hospital to find out the needs of the children and to find out how they can help.

“As always,” she continued, “being 100 percent volunteer driven with no administration costs or salaries, you can tell our heart is in what we do. It truly is a beautiful gift to be able to work with and help these families…I have to say from my point of view all the players, organizers, promoters and supporters were nothing short of a huge blessing to me and the families.”

For more information, visit www.embracelifechildrensfoundation.com.

By Rachel Galvin

Lexi Masciarella first started collecting pop tabs in 2nd grade when students at her school were collecting them to donate proceeds to the Ronald McDonald House. In 5th grade, this North Broward Preparatory student became the head of collection of pop tabs from her class and proceeded to ask her neighbors, grandmother’s bowling team, anyone who could collect them to help her in her quest to get the most pop tabs. She ended up filling a 50 gallon drum with what she had collected.

“I wheeled the drum into the auditorium and spoke at the assembly. I was interviewed by Channel 7. It was great.”

When she asked her mom how much money that was raised from them, she was told $80. “That’s not enough,” she thought, only $80 for all of her efforts. She knew she had to find a way to make more money for the cause.

“I became enthralled with collecting them and how you could help someone so easily,” she said.

A couple of months later, she came up with the idea of the bracelets, which she sold at a 6th grade charity fair. She made $100 and was sold out within the hour. Seeing that making $100 an hour was much better than her earlier endeavor, she figured out she was onto something.

The bracelets at first were unable to be adjusted and were sharp and could cut people so she proceeded to make some modifications. She began getting demands for certain colors and types, and added charms and beads, completely transforming them into something new.

Now, five years later, this now 16-year-old has raised $10,000 so far. She has worked with organizations like Deerfield Beach’s Zonta International, which gave her a Rising Star Award, as well as Brandeis University and the JCC in Boca Raton.

She recently was at Zonta’s Festi-Fall at St. Ambrose Catholic Church. Next, she will be at Westminster Academy in Ft. Lauderdale on Nov. 4-5 for their Christmas Boutique.

“During Hurricane Matthew, I was making pop tab bracelets,” said Masciarella, who started a non-profit organization for her cause called Tabz 4 Charity.

“It takes me about 30 minutes to make, including cleaning the tabs, filing them down, putting them together with charms. It is like second nature now,” she said.

She not only gives to Ronald McDonald House, which provides a “home away from home” for families of sick children so they can stay together during the illness, but also other charities who approach her. She may give 60 percent to Ronald McDonald House and 40 percent to the other charity, like to help Susan G. Komen, for example.

“The Ronald McDonald House is important to me,” she said. “In 5th grade, I went to the house [to see how the money was used] and I met a little boy named Rahiem. He was 5 years old and had Leukemia but you would never have guessed. He had the biggest smile and the most energy. He was the sweetest boy. I was probably 10. He was always there with his mom and brother. We became super close. He changed my life.”

She learned a lot more about strength from witnessing it firsthand as she watched his mom and brother. Unfortunately, after being in remission and moving back home, he ended up passing away recently, but she will carry on his story forever and remains close with his family.

“Talk about having a different point of view on the world. Through knowing him and his family, I got to know strength and compassion,” she said.

Masciarella is president of the Ronald McDonald House at her school and continues to sell bracelets for the charity. She currently has 150 made and ready to sell. Her mom says they are all over the house, but she doesn’t seem to mind.

“I think it’s great. I am inspired by her. When she came and showed me the bracelet at first, I thought this is great. The more she kept doing and creating, she was thinking outside the box. I thought, ‘How smart.’ She has come so far. If we all did our little thing [to give back], how great things would be in the world. Lexi was inspired to do for someone else. It has become bigger than she even anticipated.”

For more information, visit www.tabz4charity.com.