Showing posts with label Christan Zaccagnino. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christan Zaccagnino. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Team Fight to Walk to host Second Annual Gala!


 
Tickets and sponsorship packages available at teamfighttowalk.com
 
For Immediate Release
 
New York, NY (September 30, 2014) – Junior Middleweight boxer Boyd Melson and Christan Zaccagnino, founders of Team Fight to Walk, are proud to announce their organization will host the second annual “Fighting for the Cure” benefit gala Thursday, October 16 at 6:15 pm in the Beckwith Pointe in New Rochelle, NY.
 
Tickets and sponsorship packages to “Fighting for the Cure” are available by going to teamfighttowalk.com or calling 914-497-5727. All donations are deductable per IRS regulations.
 
In May 2013, Team Fight to Walk held their inaugural fundraiser at BB King Blues Club in Time Square that featured a special act by world renowned comedian Artie Lange along with heartfelt speeches from Boyd Melson, Dr. Wise Young, former Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand, Christan Zaccagnino and boxer/cancer survivor Danny Jacobs. Last year’s event raised $100,000 towards a clinical trial and research of Chronic Spinal Cord Injuries.
 
Since meeting at a social event in 2002 while he was atWest Point, Melson’s dedicated much of his life to helping Zaccagnino. At ten years old, Zaccagnino became paralyzed from the neck down following a diving accident. Since turning pro in 2010, Melson’s donated 100% of his purses from 15 of his 16 matches towards Spinal Cord Injury Research through Justadollarplease.org and Team Fight to Walk, 501c3 charities. Melson and Zaccagnino’s story has received a significant amount of national attention, as the two have been featured on HBO Real Sports, ESPN.com, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo, NY1 and various newspapers.
 
They also recruited a team of boxers to support the cause either by donating or promoting. The fighters include world champion Demetrius Andrade, former titlists Steve Cunningham and Austin Trout, 2008 Olympian Shawn Estrada and contender Will Rosinsky amongst many others. Even with all of the hard work and tireless efforts, Team Fight to Walk must still raise a significant amount of money before they can move forward with the trial that could changes the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
 
On the 16th, guests will get to see performances by comedians Gilbert Gottfried, Jayson Cross and Damon Rozier. Former New York Knicks star Anthony Mason, world champion boxers Danny Jacobs and Demetrius Andrade, former champion Junior Jones and unbeaten contender Frank Galarza will all be on hand throughout the evening to support the cause and spend time with ticketholders. This special event also has a blackjack table, silent auction, DJ, live music, open bar and guest speakers throughout the evening. Dave Diamante, voice of the Brooklyn Nets, will emcee the “Fighting for the Cure” gala.
 
“I’ve seen the way the world positively reacts to certain causes through social media and there are a lot of people out there that need help with different issues,” said Melson. “I’m calling not only on the boxing world but the general public to help in whatever way they can with Team Fight to Walk and our “Fighting for the Cure” gala. Our 2013 gala was a great success and we need to top donations in 2014 in order to potentially change the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans suffering from Chronic Spinal Cord Injuries. Christan, myself, the rest of Team Fight to Walk and our loyal supporters have put in a tremendous amount of time to assist with efforts but there’s still a lot of work left to be done. If you aren’t able to make it on the 16th, please consider making a donation of any amount or purchasing a sponsorship page if you run a business. This will go a long way and your assistance can have a major impact on the lives of others.”
 
In association with the 501 (C) 3 nonprofit Justadollarplease.org, Melson and his best friend Christan Zaccagnino created Team Fight to Walk, whose mission is to raise awareness within the boxing community as well as the entire nation about the importance of bringing Clinical Trials to the United States to help cure Spinal Cord Injuries. Team Fight to Walk is comprised of Melson, Zaccagnino, former Rutgers football player/ESPY honoree Eric LeGrand, two-time cruiserweight champion Steve “USS” Cunningham, Austin “No Doubt” Trout, title contender DeAndre “The Bull” Latimore, Edgar “El Chamaco” Santana, Sonya Lamonakis, Hector “Machito” Camacho Jr., WBO Junior Middleweight titlist/2008 US Olympian Demetrius “Boo” Andrade and fellow 08’ Olympian Shawn Estrada along with prospects Sid “The Messenger” El Harrak, Jeff “TNT” Spencer, Denis “Da Momma’s Boy” Douglin, Will “Power” Rosinsky, Floriano “Italiano” Pagliara, Danny “Little Mac” McDermott, Vinny “The Lion” O’Brien, Ahmed “Prince of Egypt” Samir and Delen “Sniper” Parsley.
 
For more information or to make a donation, go to teamfighttowalk.com or Justadollarplease.org. All specific questions about the nature of the Clinical Trial to cure Spinal Cord Injury can be sent to boydmelson@yahoo.com.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

BOYD MELSON HALL OF FAME SPEECH AND PHOTOS

On Sunday evening, junior middleweight Captain Boyd "Rainmaker" Melson received the Dick Steinberg "Good Guy" Award from the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Melson, who is 10-1-1 as a pro, was recently featured on HBO Real Sports along with his best friend and inspiration to box Christan Zaccagnino. He's received great praise for donating his fight purses to justadollarplease.org to help with funding for a trial that can help cure chronic Spinal Cord Injuries. Melson gave a special speech after receiving his award from the Hall of Fame and would like me to share this with you. Please post this on your blog, website, Facebook or Twitter page and share this link directly below. http://www.tubechop.com/watch/1132391 EMBEDDED LINK: As a reminder, Boyd's next fight is Saturday evening, April 27 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. I hope to see you all there.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

MELSON AND ZACCAGNINO TO BE FEATURED ON HBO REAL SPORTS TUESDAY EVENING AT 10 PM ET!

Dear Members of the Media,

It is with great pleasure that I announce Boyd Melson and Christan Zaccagnino's story will be featured on HBO's award winning series "Real Sports" Tuesday, April 16 at 10 PM ET. 

As you know, Boyd's donated all 12 of his purses earned as a professional, with 11 of them going tojustadollarplease.org to support Spinal Cord Injury research and the other going to a friend who has a son with brain cancer. All of the donations have been backed on a 2/1 basis by his full-time employer Johnson&Johnson and Melson's raised more than $100,000 to help fund America's first trial for Chronic Spinal Cord Injuries, with Zaccagnino serving as his inspiration.

Below is the official press release from HBO. I kindly ask that you pass this information along to everybody you know. Tuesday is an extremely important day for Melson, Zaccagino, Team Fight to Walk, Justadollarplease.org and all those involved.

As a reminder, Melson returns to the ring April 27 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. If you know somebody that plans on attending, please have them get their tickets from teamfighttowalk.com.

Sincerely,

Matt Yanofsky
Team Melson Publicist

Now in its 19th season, REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL, TV’s most honored sports journalism series and the only sports program recognized with a prestigious 2012 George Foster Peabody Award, presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 193rd edition, available in HDTV, debuts TUESDAY, APRIL 16 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
Other HBO playdates: April 16 (3:10 a.m.), 19 (1:30 p.m., 9:00 p.m.), 21 (8:45 a.m.), 24 (7:00 p.m., 3:05 a.m.), 26 (1:00 a.m.), 27 (9:30 a.m., 11:15 p.m.) and 30 (11:00 a.m., 5:15 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: April 18 (11:30 a.m., midnight), 22 (3:30 p.m., 10:00 p.m.) and 26 (7:00 p.m.), and May 1 (9:00 a.m., 5:00 a.m.), 5 (1:00 p.m.), 7 (2:00 p.m., 1:00 a.m.) and 11 (8:25 a.m.)
HBO On Demand® availability: April 22-May 13. The show will also be available on HBO GO®.
Segments include:
*Fight to Walk. Most talented amateur boxers turn pro with dreams of fame, fortune and title belts. New Yorker Boyd Melson’s aspirations are slightly different. The 31-year-old boxes for his “soul mate,” Christan Zaccagnino, who was paralyzed from the neck down in a diving accident at age ten. Melson donates every dollar he earns in the ring to spinal cord research with the hope that modern medicine will discover a way for Zaccagnino to walk again. A West Point graduate, he maintains a grueling schedule to train while working a typical nine-to-five office job. REAL SPORTS correspondent Frank Deford visits with Melson and Zaccagnino to learn more about this amazing tale of love and devotion.
Producer: Chapman Downes.
Last month, REAL SPORTS was the sole sports program recognized for broadcast excellence in 2012 by the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a George F. Peabody Award. It is the only sports program ever honored with the duPont Award, having first been recognized in 2005, and receiving its second duPont Award in 2012.
REAL SPORTS has won the Sports Emmy® for Outstanding Sports Journalism 15 times and has received 23 Sports Emmy® Awards overall.
Join the conversation on Twitter using #RealSports.
The executive producer of REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL is Rick Bernstein; Joe Perskie is senior producer.