Gabbi McFadden organized a group ALS ice bucket “Pour,” raising money to bring awareness to a disease that family friend Greg Heydet, Sr., also her future coach at Council Rock South, is battling.
By Mary Jane Souder
Gabbi McFadden had an idea.
An idea that grew into something much bigger than the Richboro Middle School eighth grader could have imagined when she took the ALS ice bucket challenge and then decided to take it to another level for her future coach, Council Rock South softball coach Greg Heydet Sr., who was diagnosed with ALS in 2013.
Heydet played softball with Gabbi’s father, Joe McFadden, and she grew up attending their games. She hopes to one day play for Heydet at Rock South.
“He’s an amazing softball player, and when he got ALS, he can’t really be the same,” Gabbi said. “I just want to be able to be taught by him.
“Even if he isn’t there, I’ll still pretend he’s my coach, and I’ll have him come to the games so he can watch me.”
On Thursday, McFadden got the ball rolling by setting up a lemonade stand on the corner of Middle Holland Road and West Village Drive in Holland, accepting donations for ALS and also encouraging the community to sign up to participate in a group ALS ice bucket “POUR” at noon on Saturday.
“Greg is one of my dad’s really good friends, so we’re just doing it to raise funds,” McFadden said. “I noticed that people were doing the ice bucket challenge, and they were having a lot of fun with it, but they weren’t really donating – they were just doing it for fun.
“So I thought we could do a lemonade stand, raise all this money and put the fun into it and get everyone together to do a bucket challenge. I just thought it would be a lot of fun.”
Not even a steady rain could dampen the spirits of the close to 30 supporters who showed up on Saturday to take a dousing, thanks to the Northampton Township Fire Department truck that did the honors.
“Someone in the department knew who Greg was and kind of made the wheels turn, and they said, ‘Yes, we’ll be out there to help out. We want to take part,’” said Joe McFadden. “It was a nice response from everybody.
“To know that she cared that much and really wants Greg to be there when she gets to the high school is really good.
“The challenge is really a 24-hour thing, but Gabbi took 48 hours to put it together. She did pretty good. If she would have had a week to put the word out and take her time, I think she could have done even better.”
Several of Heydet’s players took part in the challenge.
“I think this is really incredible how everyone is coming together for such a great coach,” said Stephanie Andreoli, a Rock South sophomore who played for Heydet on both CR South and the Warrington Blue Thunder. “He does so much for all the players to make them better and make the team better, and I just think it’s really great that everyone cares so much.
“He’s an amazing coach. He has so much experience, and he just helps everyone so much.”
Phylicia Wilcov, also a sophomore, played for Heydet at Rock South this spring, and she admits she was nervous entering a program that had struggled.
“I heard about how this program was, and then when Greg showed up, he really transformed the program,” she said of a Rock South squad that earned a spot in districts. “He was named coach of the year, and he deserved it.
Greg is an amazing coach, so when I heard about the whole ice bucket challenge, I had to be here, Having all this about Greg is really special because he does deserve it.”
Mike Corso works with Heydet as part of the Warrington Blue Thunder organization.
“We’re here for Greg,” he said. “As far as the Blue Thunder, I’ve been involved for over seven years, and I know he’s over that.
“He’s constantly giving back to other teams, not just his own. Greg gives pitching lessons to a number of kids, and he gives to the community. Beyond being an expert in the game, he’s just a gentleman. Softball is his life. I’ll get texts seven in the morning, and I’ll get texts 11 at night, always pertaining to softball.”
Heydet, meanwhile, was touched by McFadden’s selfless gesture.
“It’s special,” he said. “ALS is a deadly disease. For somebody to do something like this for somebody – they’re a great family.
“I can’t say enough about Gabbi. It’s all about her. I was lucky enough to know her and be a part of this. Excellent job by Gabbi for all her efforts and also to her parents.”
Her mother, Liz Cleary McFadden, referred to Gabbi as an “angel in the ranks” for Heydet on her Facebook page, and as of Sunday night, Heydet’s “angel” is oh-so-close to reaching her goal of $1,000.
“I’m happy we did this,” McFadden said. “It looks like everyone had a lot of fun. Everyone is soaked now, everyone is smiling, and it was just a really good time to see everybody get together and have that much fun and do it for a good cause.”
According to the latest figures on the ALS Association web site Sunday, donations have exceeded $70 million, compared to $2.3 million during that same time span in 2013.
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