The Jillian Metcalf Foundation is still an emerging organization. They achieved much in their first year, including raising money to bestow scholarships that can make a difference to deserving nursing school-bound high school graduates from South Shore Long Island. Finding innovative ways to raise that money for the future is where the J.A.M Olympics concept comes into play.
The idea took cues from what used to be known as the Fire Island Field Day, a grassroots post-season event in which bar tenders, wait staff, and other service workers no longer under the pressures of high summer season would participate in friendly competition to raise money for a worthy cause.
On a beautiful Tuesday afternoon in mid-September, the J.A.M Olympics reinvented that idea in Ocean Bay Park at Schooners. However, things were taken up a notch with live music by the Soul Junkies, a wealth of silent auction items donated by local businesses and residents – and an emotional speech given by Foundation President Sam Wood of Kismet reminding everyone of the purpose behind this gathering.
The Olympians played hard, and they played to win. It was the kind of party Jillian would have loved.
