How Wheaton school's dodgeball tourney has become a major charity fundraiser

Joe Kish doesn't like to take credit for the turnout at an annual dodgeball tournament that's become a signature event at Franklin Middle School in Wheaton.

The tournament isn't possible without the support of players from across Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 and beyond, says Kish, the school's assistant principal.

But there's no denying his role in an event that has served as a major fundraiser for a number of causes. The first tournament in 2013 raised money for the American Diabetes Association.

For the last three years, sponsorships and donations from the tournament have supported the Ross K. MacNeill Foundation in honor of an 11-year-old who died from brain cancer and would have been a Franklin student.

Ross' classmates have graduated from Franklin, and tournament organizers this year decided to "spread the wealth" from the growing fundraiser. And so the more than $32,000 raised by the four-day tournament this spring was shared evenly by organizations that help veterans and the families of fallen firefighters and police.

Kish gives much of the credit for that "phenomenal support" to parents and high school coaches who encourage students to compete in the tournament. And firefighters and police officers rallied their own to form teams and raise funds for nonprofit groups that included The Hundred Club of DuPage County, Team Red, White and Blue and the Pat Tillman Foundation.

Teams represented more than more than 20 law enforcement agencies from across the region - as far as Flossmoor, Cicero and Oswego.

Mike Ruck, president of Wheaton Firefighters Union Local 3706, has participated in the event over the years and helped recruit firefighters this spring for a cause "near and dear to our heart."

"Joe does such a tremendous job, and the success of it is the fruits of his labor," the Wheaton firefighter said. "It's something I hope goes on for a long time."

Kish already has started planning for next year's tourney and, by the end of this school year, hopes to join forces with charities that will benefit from the funds.

He gets the credit as an educator who looks for a teachable moment in the tournament. Kish noted students were reminded of themes of sacrifice, service and loss when they heard from speakers invited to the event. Among them were Bloomingdale Police Chief Frank Giammarese, who met with student athletes about two months after the death of Officer Raymond Murrell.

"They hopefully walked away with something making them better people," Kish said.