Page 16 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • December 4, 2013 Saddle River Princess Ball nets $34K for Children’s Therapy Center The Saddle River Valley Junior Woman’s Club’s Second Prin- cess Ball raised $34,100 for the Children’s Therapy Center, a non-profit organization that has been providing services to children with disabilities for over 60 years. The center has locations in Fair Lawn and Midland Park. Marvin Leiken, executive director and Fair Lawn principal of The Children’s Therapy Center, thanked the club for its donation, which he said will enable his organization to provide adaptive equip- ment, early enrichment, ballet, yoga, Mom’s Support Group, Dad’s Support Group, Sibling Support Program, Special Adaptive Swim, horticulture, therapeutic horseback riding, and more. TruCare PT of Ramsey was one of the Princess Ball’s major sponsors. Special Olympics (continued from page 11) body will further demonstrate its pride by featuring the young athlete on the cover of the town’s 2014 community calendar. Michael and Alexandra’s journey actu- ally started in 2012 when they competed in the state competition as part of the Bergen County Wildcats program. By winning a medal in the 2012 state volleyball compe- tition, they became eligible to try out for TEAM NJ earlier this year. Over 1,800 athletes were eligible and invited to try out for the 16 teams that would compete in the games. Of those 1,800 athletes, 750 accepted the invitation and tried out during a weekend in August. On November 2nd, TEAM NJ was officially announced at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway during a Rutgers University football game, where the 270 athletes paraded on the field in front of over 40,000 people. The 2014 USA Games will see these athletes com- peting in 14 official and two demonstration sports during the week of June 14-21, 2014. The TEAM NJ volleyball roster is made up of a total of 10 athletes and two coaches. Michael, age 19, has been participating in Special Olympics for 11 years. In addition to volleyball, he plays floor hockey, bas- ketball and softball for the Bergen County Wildcats. He also keeps active in sports as the team manager for the Waldwick High School Basketball team. He had also been the manager of the Waldwick High School’s girls volleyball and boys tennis teams in years past. The school recently raised and donated over $900 for Team NJ in Michael’s name through various fund raisers. In his spare time, Michael volunteers at events with the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics NJ to raise money and awareness. Alexandra, age 16, has been participating in Special Olympics for the past four years as part of the Bergen County Wildcats. She also has competed in other sports, including floor hockey, basketball and bowling. In her off time she volunteers at St Luke’s Church in Ho-Ho-Kus as a greeter and choral singer. The Waldwick athletes had their first official volleyball practice as members of TEAM NJ last Sunday. They will con- tinue to practice as a team several times a month at the Special Olympics NJ headquarters in Lawrenceville. In addi- tion to the team practices they will also be responsible to maintain personal fit- ness and training on their own locally. The 2014 USA Games will be staged throughout Mercer County, including com- petitions at Princeton University, Rider University, The College of New Jersey, Mercer County Park, and several area pri- vate schools. In addition to the many show- cased sports, Special Olympics athletes will participate in spectacular special events, including an Opening Ceremony at Pru- dential Center, Closing Ceremony at Sun National Bank Center, a board-walk themed Olympic Town, a Special Olympics Unified Sports Festival, and much more.