Wellesley Youth Hockey coach Joe Oliveri is running for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man of the Year title on behalf of his co-coach/partner Katelyn Kurth’s brother Tom, who has fought Hodgkin’s Lymphoma over the past year.
Tom was diagnosed unexpectedly last year with stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and spent most of last summer in a medically induced coma. With almost all of his organs failing, the family was told to prepare for the worst. “Nothing short of a miracle and an eleventh hour experimental mixture of several chemos enabled Tom Kurth to become cancer free and he’s now making a full recovery at home in New Jersey,” writes Chris Georgenes, who has a son coached by Oliveri and Katelyn Kurth.
Oliveri, a Wellesley resident, is inspired to raise funds to fight cancer after seeing the effects of Tom Kurth’s blood disease up close. Here’s a link to his Man of the Year page. The Man of the Year contest is accepting donations until May 22.
A fundraiser party (band, games, auction, food) for Oliveri’s Man of the Year campaign will be held this Friday, March 28 from 7-11:30pm at the Italo American Club in Wellesley (kids welcome). A $50 donation is recommended. Email or call Chris Georgenes for more info: 781-492-0108
From a kid who only cared about how fast he could skate and how many pucks he could shoot a day to a Hopkinton HS Varsity player to a United States Marine non commissioned officer who served in multiple combat theatres while earning various commendations for his distinguished service to come out and go back to college and earn a degree in Web site architecture and design from Becker College while coaching kids at a game he truly loves .I look at this young man with nothing but the highest regard for he is my son .Whether or not he wins this prestigious award he will be to me and his brothers and sister and his friends and family Our man of the year…Congratulations Joe for making us all proud ..You’ve already won , just ask the kids you coach.
Love
Dad