Parking spaces were turned into colorful chalk hopscotch grids at the Recess Olympics, the first Hopping 4 A Cure for multiple sclerosis fundraiser in Boca Raton.
“We just hopped into Boca,” said Marla Jaffe with her son David Nassau, 23, who turned the parking lot at Clive Daniel Home into hopscotch grids on a sunny Sunday for a relay race and extreme hopscotch. Jaffe had that venue as director of design and business development for the store. Nassau helped start three college chapters when his father Steven Nassau, who was there, was diagnosed with MS 13 years ago.
People brought their children and Jaffe gathered 20 sponsors for the July 16 event that featured food and vendors. Among them were Debra Tendrich, founder of the nonprofit fighting childhood obesity Eat Better Live Better, and N’Quavah R. Velazquez, founder, CEO and president of the Achievement Heights Academy.
Medical student Ashwin Kalyandurg, of Boca Raton, donned gloves to walk hopscotch grids on his hand. Hopping 4 A Cure for MS ambassadors there were Logan Lindsay, 7, and Barry Kent, 13.
“Barry started doing this as a bar mitzvah project in April through Temple Beth El,” in Boca, said his mother Amy Kent.
“I wanted to raise money for a good cause,” Barry said.
Boca singer-songwriter Mason Pace performed and Miss Boca Raton USA Carla Erskine helped rally the crowd with a bullhorn. She’ll represent the city in the Miss USA Florida pageant in Tampa in December, said Erskine, an attorney.
David Nassau came in from his California job for the event and his birthday. He helped found three college chapters after his father was diagnosed with MS.
“We are building our reputation on campus and we’re considering a South Florida chapter now that we have a base and location,” David Nassau said. “We found a home in Boca.”
Visit http://mshopscotch.org/.
