Golfing For Gabi

Severna Park Supports Family Of Local Coach, Teacher

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The Pellicani family in 2017 received news that no one wants to hear: their granddaughter, Gabriella “Gabi” Pellicani, had glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.

The cancer was aggressive. Incurable.

Gabi was treated at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, from April to June 2018 as part of an experimental clinical trial that focused on a particular genetic mutation found in Gabi's tumor.

Her 10-month battle ended in October 2018.

Heartbroken, the Pellicanis set out to prevent the same outcome for other families. Golfing For Gabi — a fundraiser at the Rockville Links Club in New York, Gabi’s home state — started in 2019.

Three years later, the tournament is set for its third installment on September 23. As has been the case the last few years, Severna Park is playing a role in its fundraising success. This comes as no surprise to Paul Pellicani, Gabi’s grandfather and head coach of the Severna Park High School varsity basketball team.

“We found out about Gabi’s diagnosis in December 2017,” Paul said. “Unbeknownst to me, our players contacted our opponent on a given night and had a game dedicated to Gabi while she was going through treatment. They raised about $1,040 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. People have been so nice.”

Many donors wanted to support Paul and his wife, Lisa, who taught at Severn School for 26 years.

Severna Park High School graduate Jake Hallet remembers talking to Paul Pellicani before the first Golfing For Gabi event. Hallet last played for Paul in 2017.

“I’d want people to know how special Gabi was, not only to the family,” Hallet said. “She would come to our practices and light up the room. She was always smiling and dribbling a ball.”

Hallet worked with his friend, Cullen Joyce, to promote the event on social media. In the process, Hallet was helping Paul, a “phenomenal human being.”

“He was always so supportive of myself and my brother, whether it was on the basketball court or in life,” Hallet said. “In those years, we did not always have the best season, but he inspired each of us to be a better person.”

Paul’s former players, in return, have been inspired to help their coach and Gabi, one of their favorite fans. Most charitable golf events offer hole sponsorship as an option, and with Paul and Lisa sponsoring hole five, Severna Park has also supported the cause.

“Hole five is a short par three and it is adjacent to the pool at Rockville Links Golf Club,” Paul explained. “Gabi was 5 years old when she passed. When her dad was golfing, she would wait at the fence by hole five. So it made a lot of sense for us to sponsor hole five.”

In Golfing For Gabi’s first year, hole five raised about $6,000. Last year, donors collectively gave $8,000 to hole five. Both years, the fundraising far surpassed the $250 cost to sponsor a hole.

“It has effectively become a pseudo sponsor,” Paul said.

The support has gone beyond hole five.

“One former player sponsored another hole,” Paul said. “Another player, unbeknownst to me, had went and sponsored a hole on behalf of the boys basketball team.”

So many of Lisa’s former students and Paul’s players continue to show their gratitude. Pete Young, Paul Pellicani’s assistant coach for the last 23 years, knows why.

“Coach Pellicani has poured as much energy into helping the kids who aren’t Division I players as the ones who went to have successful college careers,” said Young, who coached both of Paul’s sons, Ben and Nick, Gabi’s dad.

“Gabi won’t be forgotten,” Young said. “We still look at her as our littlest Falcon. Our clipboards have a gray ribbon that says, ‘For Gabi.’ It’s embedded in our DNA.”

Knowing that most people from Severna Park are unable to visit Long Island, New York, for a golf tournament, the Pellicanis created the sponsorship as a way for people to support the Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute of Boston.

“Very little research is done on pediatric cancer,” Paul said. “The reason is unfortunate even though I understand it: it’s not lucrative for investors because there aren’t enough cases.”

People can help in three ways: Venmo golfing4gabi, make a donation online at www.danafarber.jimmyfund.org/goto/golfingforgabi, or make a check out to “Dana-Farber Cancer Institute” and send it to coach Pellicani at 49 Hatton Drive, Severna Park, Maryland, 21146. All checks will be presented at the event on September 23.

For more information, visit www.golfingforgabi.com.

“If one day because of the effort of the event and community coming together, this could be a small piece of families not getting the news we got, that is the motivating goal,” Paul said. “Yes, it does continue Gabi’s memory, but we don’t want someone else to go through this.

“Let’s not have this be just a sad story, but maybe something positive can come out of this.”

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