Stow YES Softball Fundraiser for Woman's Honorary Cancer Foundation

Swing a bat for a good cause Saturday and help Stow YES Softball raise funds for a local cancer charity.

The youth softball league's 4th Annual Spirit Day fundraiser will support the Lori A. Lepper Foundation, so named for the area woman who died in January at the age of 42 after battling cancer.

The fundraiser will be held at the Stow-Munroe Falls High School baseball fields and will feature a hitting derby, fielding competition and standard team games.

Seth Lepper said they started his wife's namesake foundation in March with the goal of helping cancer patients who cannot afford to seek alternative treatments — methods typically not covered by health insurance providers.

"The foundation was something my wife always talked about while she was sick and going through chemotherapy herself," he said. "We made multiple trips to Michigan for an alternative treatment. We were fortunate to have the means to do so."

The Leppers drove almost twice weekly from Northeast Ohio to a clinic in Michigan where Lori underwent vitamin C IV treatments and ultraviolet light blood cleansing procedures to remove harmful bacteria.

"Basically it was like getting a blood wash," Seth Lepper said. "The vitamin C helped with the side effects of the chemo."

Last year, the Spirit Day raised $2,700 to help Stow native Brianne Dishong battle cancer. In the first two years the fundraiser netted $6,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Lauren Senderoff, one of the event organizers for Stow YES Softball, said more than 160 girls will take part in Saturday's fundraiser. 

Among them will be Lori Lepper's daughter, Rose, who has played in the softball league for several years. This season, her team will wear a jersey patch in honor of her mother.

"We thought it really is a great thing to support," Senderoff said of the foundation.   

The hitting derby and fielding knock out competition will take place from 11 a.m. to noon. Rose Lepper's team, 14u CVEL (Cuyahoga Valley Elite League), will be playing an exhibition game versus the 12u CVEL team from 4:15 to 5:45 p.m. on the varsity field.

Stow's Acme Fresh Market will be donating donuts that will be sold at the concession stand. Other items sold will be: coffee, hotdogs, sloppy joe's, pop, lemonade, chips and water, all of which are being donated  by the Stow YES softball girls and their families, Senderoff said.

One-hundred percent of the event proceeds will support the foundation.

Senderoff said the rain date for the event is Sunday.

"We’re keeping our fingers crossed that it’s nice weather," she said.