Rally for Ryan blood drive, walk this weekend
Event will help defray costs of N.B. youth's cancer treatment
BY JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK - Let's hit a home run for Ryan.

The sentiments that have echoed throughout the season for the North Brunswick Baseball Association will particularly hit home this weekend when a walk-a-thon and blood drive will be held to raise funds for Ryan Youngman, a 12-year-old township resident who was recently diagnosed with bone cancer.

The second baseman for the 12-year-old travel team was playing ball about five months ago when he thought he sprained his leg. When he visited his doctor, he was diagnosed with cancer and has since been in and out of the children's center at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. Because of the highly expensive cost of cancer treatment, the baseball association is holding a Rally for Ryan on Saturday and Sunday.

A 3-mile walk will be held at the Community Park on Route 130 on Saturday. Registration is at 7:30 a.m. and the walk begins at 8 a.m. The cost is $20 for adults and $10 for children.

A blood drive will be held at Our Lady of Peace Church on Route 130 on Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Ryan is expected to need blood at some point, and blood donations are reportedly at low levels.

The baseball teams have also been selling blue wristbands during the season to add funds. The First Aid & Rescue Squad has helped transport Ryan to the hospital and member Mindy Steinman is organizing the walk. In addition, each of the other youth sports organizations in town has participated in raising money for the Youngmans, longtime North Brunswick resident who have seven children, three of whom are adopted. The family has been with the baseball league for generations, with Ryan's father playing ball in town years ago.

Ryan himself was in the league for five years before his diagnosis. However, although he cannot play now and missed an opportunity to travel with the team to Cooperstown, N.Y., he sometimes kept score and did announcing during the games.

"He is a very well-mannered kid, very nice, very respectful, quiet, a very quiet kid," said Rodney Reinson, the president of the baseball association and a former coach of Ryan's older brother. "He's just a really nice kid and we're trying to raise [money] for the family because it's such an expensive burden."

Ryan's parents could not be reached due to his ongoing medical treatment. However, Reinson said that people should "be glad you can wake up every day and be healthy. ... Community-wise, everybody has really stepped up and tried to help anyway they possibly can. It hits home with everybody who has kids."

Additional donations may be sent to the North Brunswick Baseball & Softball Association (NBBSA), c/o Ryan's Fund, 1233 Williamson Road, North Brunswick, 08902.