Help 2 Families At 34th Brick PBA Helping Hands Basketball Game

BRICK, NJ — The Brick Township PBA has announced its annual Helping Hands basketball game, which will benefit two families in need.

The game is set for 5:30 p.m. Friday, May 3, at Brick Township High School and will pit Brick PBA members against seniors from the Brick Township High School football team.

This is the 34th edition of the game and it will benefit the families of Luca Favia and Chad Dougherty.

Luca Favia is a 1-year-old boy who was diagnosed in December with hepatoblastoma, an extremely rare form of liver cancer found in children, with only about 100 cases reported each year.

Luca has been receiving treatment and still has to spend a lot of his time in the hospital. The hospital only allows one parent to stay overnight, so his parents must alternate nights staying at the hospital while the other stays at a nearby hotel so they can be close.

"This has been an extremely stressful and challenging time for Lucas's family, and the Brick PBA 230 is honored to be able to support Luca and his family through these tough times," the PBA said.

Chad Dougherty is a Brick Township High School math teacher and an assistant football coach for the Dragons who went into cardiac arrest while he was in recovery following a routine medical procedure in December.

Medical staff performed CPR on Dougherty, who was unresponsive and was not breathing for nearly 3 minutes, and he was rushed into immediate open heart surgery and was in a coma for several days following.

Dougherty has been out of work since and has been going through a rigorous rehabilitation and making tremendous strides daily; he hopes to return to teaching before the year ends, the PBA said.

"Chad is a caring, kind, and knowledgeable teacher and is extremely well-liked by his students and co-workers," the PBA said, and he "still faces many hurdles, and the Brick PBA 230 is honored to support him and his family."

Tickets to the game will be available for purchase soon. For now, the PBA is accepting donations to support the families.l They can be made online through Zeffy, which does not charge fees to the recipients of fundraisers, or checks payable to the Helping Hands Fund can be can be mailed to Brick PBA Local 230, P.O. Box 1067, Brick, NJ 08723, c/o John Canterelli.

Anyone with questions or concerns can contact Patrolman John Canterelli or Patrolman Kyle Dudak at the Brick Township Police Department.