Welcome, I am Joy Finochio. I am a teacher, wife, and mother, one of the most satisfying roles I have is being an advocate for my 9 year old son, Ryan. I have 2 other children, Austin 19 and Carly 15. Ryan was diagnosed at 21 months with PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified) which is on the Autism Spectrum Disorder. At the age of 5, he was re-evaluated and was diagnosed with moderate to severe classic autism. Ryan is non-verbal and has trouble communicating his wants and needs. Ryan faces many other challenges each and every day. As his family we try to adapt, modify, and help Ryan overcome these barriers.
​
“Shoot” for the Cause was started back in 2011 when a friend of mine suggested that I host a charity basketball tournament. He made the suggestion and “mentioned” that he worked for a company that would donate $1,000 to any organization that held a charity event and got at least 20 of their employees to participate. Well 7 years later that company is still with us and just as excited to do it this year as they were the first year. That company is NORFOLK SOUTHERN.
​
In the inaugural year, we have 2 teams of employees from NORFOLK SOUTHERN and 2 teams of volunteer coaches from the Hollidaysburg Boys Basketball Elementary program, in which I was the coordinator. Players just brought donations from family and friends and we sold t-shirts with the “Shoot” for the Cause logo, had 50/50 drawings, and ran a concession stand. That first year we had 4 teams, and we raised about $2,500.
​
The 2nd year we still had 4 teams. Two from NORFOLK SOUTHERN and 2 teams from the elementary basketball program. Did a lot of what we did the previous year and continued to grow.
​
In the 3rd year me made a huge step and opened the tournament up to the public, mainly by word of mouth. This was the first year we knew that it was an event that we wanted to continue and we had t-shirts made that conveyed that idea… 3rd Annual Autism Awareness Charity Basketball Tournament. It was a little bit bigger and a little bit better. Raised a little bit more money, but we knew we still had room for improvement and growth both as a tournament and an organization.
​
The 4th Annual Autism Awareness Charity Basketball Tournament brought more changes for the good. We opened the tournament up to the public by means of social media. We changed the color of the shirts, included the tournament t-shirts as part of the registration for each team, and of course continued to grow with getting our community businesses involved with being tournament sponsors.
​
​
The 5th Annual Autism Awareness Charity Basketball Tournament...
​
​
The 6th Annual Autism Awareness Charity Basketball Tournament ...
​
​
The 7th Annual Autism Awareness Charity Basketball Tournament ...
​
​
The 8th Annual Autism Awareness Charity Basketball Tournament ...
​
​
STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION
​
​
​
​
​