Dear Rockland Boulders,
Thank you. Thank you for making me proud to have worked for an organization whose main focus is to make people’s day. As most of you heard in recent headlines, Luciano DiMarco, a 4 year old boy was made fun of while watching his favorite sport at Yankee Stadium. What was supposed to be a fun day at the stadium quickly turned into a nightmare for Luciano when a grown man decided to verbally bully him for his disability. Luciano was devastated, but as soon as the Rockland Boulders heard this story, they went straight into action and wanted to make it up to him!
The Promotions team quickly got in contact with the DiMarco family and invited him and his family for the best day ever! As a former Boulders intern, none of us at the Ballpark would ever want to see a kid lose their love of baseball, especially over bullying. What the Boulders did next made me proud, not only as a former intern, but as a person overall. Luciano received VIP treatment and was the special guest of the night. He and his family were given a tour of the stadium, got to meet the players in their clubhouse, were presented with Boulders merchandise, AND Luciano even got to throw out the first pitch to manager Jamie Keefe. While we can’t erase what happened to Luciano, we can go forward and make it better. And that’s exactly what the Rockland Boulders did. They stepped up to the plate, reached out, and recreated memories that will restore his and many other's faith in baseball.
(Photo by Drew Wohl feat. Luciano and manager Jamie Keefe)
In addition to making Luciano’s dream come true, they also made another special guy’s dreams come true. John Thompson. ‘Johnny Boulder’s’ is the teams Accessibility Liaison Coordinator. Johnny doesn't let the fact he has cerebral palsy affect his high spirited attitude or stop him from loving the team and game any less. He’s the Rockland Boulders biggest fan and the biggest fan obviously deserves the dream of a lifetime right? Well of course! Johnny’s dream has always been to touch all three of the bases, and the Boulders made it happen! With the help of manager Jamie Keefe and the team, they fulfilled his dream of touching all three bases and making it home! Greeting him with a nice cold refreshing bucket of water and a team huddle!
This organization does a lot in the community to give back and thrives on helping individuals like Johnny and Luciano. The Rockland Boulders is filled with good hearted employees, players, and fans and I'm lucky enough to say I got to work for this team and stadium. Thank you for making me proud of this team and organization! I will always be a Boulders fan as I'm sure many others are as well!
As said always in the stadium, “Boulder Up!”
