JDS alums to take to the gridiron for annual Thanksgiving game
Contessa Crisostomo November 19, 2008 Rockville Gazette
http://www.gazette.net/stories/11192008/rocknew211702_32482.shtml
Several graduates of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School are warming up for yet another Thanksgiving gridiron showdown.
The annual Paul Blank Invitational is an effort to raise funds for the Association for Safe International Road Travel. The organization was founded by Rochelle Sobel, a Charles E. Smith teacher whose son Aaron Sobel was killed in a bus crash while traveling in Turkey in 1995.
The event is named for Paul Blank, a Judaic studies teacher at the school who first had the idea to bring everyone together for a Thanksgiving football game in 1998, said Ilan Fulop, Paul Blank Invitational chairman and 2001 graduate. Aaron Sobel was his student.
For the first nine years, the men raised money through registration fees and donated about $250 yearly to ASIRT. Last year they expanded their efforts by soliciting corporate donations and raised 10 times as much as the previous year. Their $2,500 donation exceeded their $2,000 goal.
Given that success, the Paul Blank Invitational board of directors decided to expand its philanthropic efforts to help the Foundation for Fighting Blindness in honor of Dan Fulop, group historian, who suffers from a degenerative eye disorder called retinitis pigmentosa.
The goal is to raise $2,500 again this year.
"I'm always amazed by what started out as a few friends meeting to play football on Thanksgiving transformed over 11 years into an actual organization with a mission statement, ambitious plans for expansion and legitimate fundraising abilities," Ilan Fulop said.
Ilan Fulop said a local law firm is working with the group pro bono to establish non-profit status. He said organization members hope the application process will be complete in the next six months.
All of the spots to play in the game are filled, but for those looking for a break while the turkey roasts Thanksgiving morning, kick-off is at 10 o'clock at the Jewish Day School football field at 11710 Hunters Lane in Rockville. For more information, visit www.paulblankinvitational.com.
http://www.gazette.net/stories/11192008/rocknew211702_32482.shtml
Several graduates of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School are warming up for yet another Thanksgiving gridiron showdown.
The annual Paul Blank Invitational is an effort to raise funds for the Association for Safe International Road Travel. The organization was founded by Rochelle Sobel, a Charles E. Smith teacher whose son Aaron Sobel was killed in a bus crash while traveling in Turkey in 1995.
The event is named for Paul Blank, a Judaic studies teacher at the school who first had the idea to bring everyone together for a Thanksgiving football game in 1998, said Ilan Fulop, Paul Blank Invitational chairman and 2001 graduate. Aaron Sobel was his student.
For the first nine years, the men raised money through registration fees and donated about $250 yearly to ASIRT. Last year they expanded their efforts by soliciting corporate donations and raised 10 times as much as the previous year. Their $2,500 donation exceeded their $2,000 goal.
Given that success, the Paul Blank Invitational board of directors decided to expand its philanthropic efforts to help the Foundation for Fighting Blindness in honor of Dan Fulop, group historian, who suffers from a degenerative eye disorder called retinitis pigmentosa.
The goal is to raise $2,500 again this year.
"I'm always amazed by what started out as a few friends meeting to play football on Thanksgiving transformed over 11 years into an actual organization with a mission statement, ambitious plans for expansion and legitimate fundraising abilities," Ilan Fulop said.
Ilan Fulop said a local law firm is working with the group pro bono to establish non-profit status. He said organization members hope the application process will be complete in the next six months.
All of the spots to play in the game are filled, but for those looking for a break while the turkey roasts Thanksgiving morning, kick-off is at 10 o'clock at the Jewish Day School football field at 11710 Hunters Lane in Rockville. For more information, visit www.paulblankinvitational.com.
