Fundraising Cookout for Nick Antlitz

By Leslie Bauer
Posted: August 26, 2008

I recently received word about Nick Antlitz, a 2006 Glenelg High School graduate, who was tragically injured in early July in Bethany Beach, DE. Nick was playing basketball with friends and climbed to the top of the rim to swish the ball as it was tossed.

He slipped and fell breaking his neck and shattering his patella in his knee. He suffered permanent damage to his spinal cord as a result of this accident. Although his neck (C6) and knee were reconstructed, he remains paralyzed from the chest down.

Nick currently is a patient at Kennedy Krieger Institute, International Center for Spinal Cord Injury in Baltimore, Maryland, where he is undergoing intensive physical rehabilitation and learning to cope with his disability. Throughout his recover, Nick has demonstrated extraordinary courage and declares he will reach deep within himself to fight his way back and be everything he can be, “one step at a time” (Nick’s motto).

To help defray costs to the family for uninsured therapies and injury related expenses, friends of the family have put together some special fundraising efforts. Friends will be hosting a cookout “Nick Style” Sept. 14 from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Circle D Farm to benefit the NTAF, Mid-Atlantic Spinal Cord Injury Fund In honor of Nick Antlitz.

Cost for the cookout is $50 for ages 21 and older or $25 for ages 13-21. Children 12 and younger eat free. The evening will feature traditional barbecue fare, beer and soda. There is also a 50-50 raffle planned. For planning purposes, R.S.V.P. by Sept. 7 to Jennifer Kraemer via E-mail: JenniferKraemer@verizon.net, however walk-ins are also welcome. In addition, a fundraising campaign has also been established with the NTAF Catastrophic Injury Program in Nick’s honor.

For more than 20 years, the nonprofit NTAF has been working with the organ/tissue transplant community. In recent years, they have expanded their mission to assist those who have sustained a catastrophic injury. All contributions are administered by NTAF exclusively for injury-related expenses. Donations are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law.

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