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Welcome to the 3rd Annual Casey Skudin Memorial Volleyball Tournament! 

FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2025

The Town Park at Point Lookout
1300 Lido Boulevard, Parking Lot 1
8:30am Check-In Begins / 10:00am Volleyball Start 

Join us for another great day of family fun and friendly competition in honor of our beloved friend and Hero, Casey Skudin.

100% of the proceeds from this family-friendly event will support The Casey Skudin 343 Fund, a 501c3 non-profit that provides First Responders with access to alternative & holistic treatments to heal trauma and mental health related challenges that arise from a career on the front lines. 

DETAILS 

When: Friday, June 20, 2025
What: 6-person teams (max 10 per team). You will have the ability to rank your team’s level of competition in the registration link. 
Where:  The Town Park at Point Lookout, 1300 Lido Boulevard, (Directly across from Loop Parkway, Stay right to Parking Lot #1)
Cost: $80 donation per person for volleyball (includes donation, event shirt & durable stadium cup).  
Parking: The Town of Hempstead requires $10 per car.

*NEW THIS YEAR* ~ Team Fundraising: This year we would like to encourage all teams to consider helping us raise even more funds for our first responders by setting up a team fundraiser for your team! Prize for the winning team! 

A FEW IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE:

• We CANNOT guarantee shirt or size preference for registrations AFTER JUNE 1!
• If you register your team after JUNE 1st any available shirts will be prioritized to teams in order of earliest registration date (you will still not be guaranteed size preference)!
• It is greatly appreciated if you add names and emails for team participants! 
• If you are registering a new team (you did not participate last year or are adding an additional team) please be sure to write in your new team name!
• Tents can be set up around the permitter of the courts!
• This is a family-friendly event ~ spectators of all ages welcome! 
• If you prefer to pay by check, please email jill@343fund.org as the registration site only accepts credit card payments & Apple Pay. Checks can be made payable to: The Casey Skudin 343 Fund, PO BOX 667, Long Beach, NY 11561 OR visit our website HERE to pay by e-check.

OFFICIAL Registration Deadline: Friday, June 6th

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

• 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM – Check-In
• 9:45 AM – Opening Ceremonies
• 10:00 AM – Volleyball tournament begins
• Throughout the day, there will be cornhole, 50/50, merchandise tent, DJ, and more!
• Finals – TBD 

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:

• Premiere Event T ~ Sponsor – $3,000 Donation (logo on event shirt, court sponsor sign, event banner and social media) 
• Court Sponsor ~ $1,000 Donation (logo on court sign, event banner and social media)
• Banner Sponsor ~ $200 Donation (logo on event banner and social media)

We look forward to your participation, and we thank you in advance for your support!

*Please note there is no rain date and no refunds* 

The Casey Skudin 343 Fund is a 501c3 non-profit committed to providing First Responders with access to holistic and alternative treatment modalities for the purpose of healing traumas, and related mental health challenges, that arise with a career of public service on the front line.

Join us at the upcoming Florian Knights event and meet the team behind The Casey Skudin 343 Fund!

Learn more about our work supporting first responders and our program offerings. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect, share, and be part of a community dedicated to making a difference.

Original Article: LI Herald

In the aftermath of tragedy, Angela Skudin found herself not only grappling with enormous loss, but also recognizing a significant gap in support for those who endure traumatic incidents like hers. That prompted the creation of the Casey Skudin 343 Fund.

Angela’s husband, Long Beach native Casey Skudin, a decorated New York City firefighter and a member of the renowned Long Beach Skudin surfing family, died on June 17, 2022, at 3:43 p.m., in an accident in a windstorm in North Carolina.

Skudin was driving with Angela and their two sons on Casey’s 46th birthday when a tree limb fell on their car at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. Angela was unharmed, but Casey was killed, and their youngest son, C.J., sustained injuries and was hospitalized.

“I had learned at the scene of my husband’s death,” Angela said. “The first responders that showed up, they’re the first ones on the scene, and they have to see more traumatic sights than anyone, including myself, and they all took it home.”

Skudin, who joined the FDNY after the Sept. 11 attacks, worked at Ladder 137 in Rockaway Beach, and had received a number of awards for his rescue efforts, including during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Not long after he died, Angela established the Casey Skudin 343 Fund, dedicated to aiding first responders in accessing holistic and alternative treatments for trauma and mental health difficulties arising from work their work at fires, accidents and other emergencies.

“It affected every single one of them on a different level, because they were a first responder,” Angela said. “And then having gone through it as a widow, there was just this need for spousal support that just didn’t exist . . . certainly not on a first responder’s salary. My husband was just a helper. He was a hero. He helped everyone, and in his honor, and in his spirit, the Casey Skudin 343 Fund was born.”

Through a grant program, first responders can apply for financial assistance to access alternative healing methods that may not be covered by traditional health insurance plans. They range from infrared saunas to acupuncture to psychedelic-assisted treatments like ketamine therapy, and they can help address the complex trauma and unique challenges faced by first responders for whom traditional treatments aren’t effective.

The fund is run entirely by volunteers, and every donation goes directly to first responders and their families.

Angela had contracted Lyme disease, which prompted her and Casey to explore unconventional healing methods when traditional treatments failed her.

“I went through a battle with Lyme disease before he departed, and it was from 2018 until just right before he died to heal from that, and nothing that I needed was covered by his health policy,” she recalled. “I ran out of prescriptions, I ended up bedridden, covered in sores, misdiagnosed, and then finally properly diagnosed and on the road to recovery. But a big part of my healing came from alternative healing modalities — from infrared saunas, it came from acupuncture, it came from the hyperbaric oxygen chamber.”

Angela’s recovery, marked by her restored health and spirit since 2022, highlights the transformative potential of unconventional approaches.

As the 343 Fund continues its efforts to support healing first responders, the second annual Casey Skudin Memorial Volleyball Tournament is scheduled for June 21, at 1300 Lido Boulevard, across from the entrance to the Loop Parkway. The event serves not only as a fundraiser, but also as a reminder of the resilience and spirit of service that Skudin embodied.

Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m., the opening ceremony will take place at 9:45, and tournament play will commence at 10. The registration fee of $75 per player will serve as a charitable donation, and include an event shirt. Last year’s inaugural event attracted more than 500 participants.

Beyond financial aid, the organization provides comprehensive support to grant recipients, including pre- and post-treatment coaching and access to other healing methods recommended by coaches or practitioners. The goal is to empower first responders to embark on holistic journeys of recovery, free from the stigma that often surrounds mental health issues in their line of work.

In the past year alone, the organization has awarded $170,000 in grants, helping 40 first responders access treatment services.

“There was ignorance in this industry for an incredibly long time,” Angela said, “and the facts are there’s growing suicide epidemics. We’re having opioid epidemics, we’re having alcoholism at disturbingly high rates. We’re having PTSD and treatment-resistant depression. It overruns society with these things. Scientifically, these new modalities are what is the new medicine. And it’s time for the rest of society to catch up and for people to be informed.”

Original Story: Forbes Story

He was a 38-year-old veteran officer with the New York Police Department responding to a call one morning when the building he had just exited suddenly exploded, injuring him, civilians, other officers and killing one first responder. The devoted husband and father was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and was gripped by anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, which drastically changed his life. I recently met him through a colleague and his story resonated as it sounded like many of the patients I had cared for over the years.

He was placed on one medication after another with no clear benefit but lots of side effects. Finally in 2020, four years after his accident, he stopped all his medications cold turkey and decided to try something different. He joined the over 7 million Americans who used psychedelics and other hallucinogens that year.

Psychedelics have the potential to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, substance use disorders, depression and other psychiatric conditions. “In our newly established Interventional Psychiatry program, where we aim to treat depression, post-traumatic stress, and other disorders that have not responded to traditional treatments, we anticipate that the use of Ketamine, psilocybin, MDMA and other medications will provide much-needed alternatives for our patients,” said my colleague Dr. Stephen Ferrando, Professor and Chair of Psychiatry at New York Medical College as well as Director of Psychiatry at WMCHealth.

There have been hundreds of clinical trials evaluating psilocybin, LSD, ibogaine as well as other hallucinogens like MDMA and ketamine. This includes phase3 clinical trials like the one at the University of California San Francisco that showed psychedelic-assisted therapy reduced PTSD symptoms and functional impairment in a diverse population with moderate to severe PTSD. Results like these have led to increased excitement about psychedelics and contributed to researchers speculating that positive clinical trial results could lead to FDA approval within a year. This is a big deal. Here’s why we should care about this.

An estimated 22% of adults in the U.S. are living with mental illness, including one-third of young adults aged 18 to 25. Unfortunately, a large portion of them continue to suffer with anxiety, depression and other symptoms despite using the available behavioral and pharmacologic treatments, and many may go so far as to attempt or even complete suicide.

Mana Warrior Health is a regenerative healing practice in Oahu that has sent a Volunteer Trauma Response Team utilizing Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to serve the first responders of the devastating Lahaina fires August 2023. Tina, lead RN and founder of Mana Warrior, has joined forces with 343 Fund to provide PERMANENT healing access to the firefighters for continued healing after her 6 week mission is completed. Lahaiana FF will need long term support and services due to the direct impacts of the fires taking an extreme physical and mental toll. With access to mild hyperbaric oxygen we are supporting acute and chronic inhalation injuries, extreme fatigue, acute and chronic stress, insomnia, and more of what these brave men and women are already enduring. When we support them in the acute trauma stages, we are also preventing or mitigating potential post traumatic stress and long term injuries and illnesses. Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) is a major issue in our first responder population and we are already seeing moral injury and acute PTS episodes in Lahaina, please help us stop PTS dead in its tracks! Let US take care of the heroes for a change!

With 343 teaming up with Mana Warrior to provide permanent healing tools in Lahaina, we will be serving them with integrative whole healing care to include breathwork, yoga, grief circles, and 24/7 access to hyperbaric oxygen therapy long term. Hyperbaric oxygen has been essential in 343 Founder, Angela Skudin’s recovery for combating Lyme’s disease. With providing continued healing access for our Maui Heroes, we will be supporting them in preventing many long term complications that may arise, as sadly witnessed with post 9/11 responders.

We are honored to serve Maui firefighters as it is aligned with our mission to provide alternative healing tools to support firefighters with essential recovery options for long term prevention and optimization NOW.

Please consider donating to this immediate response mission on Maui TODAY. Tina has been boots on ground providing care to first responders since last week and will be there directly offering medical support now through the end of September. At the end of September, we hope to LEAVE the chamber for continued use for our firefighter of Lahaina. Help Us Help Our Hawaii Heroes!

“At the end of September, we hope to LEAVE the chamber for continued use for our firefighter of Lahaina. Help Us Help Our Hawaii Heroes!”

Tina Braddock / Board Member

Read Coverage From Hawaii News Now With Tina Braddock

Over a month after the Lahaina wildfire, Maui first responders face breathing issues (hawaiinewsnow.com)

The sandy dunes of Point Lookout hosted a celebration last Friday in a feature of sport, camaraderie, and community, all in the name of one of Long Beach’s own — Casey Skudin.

The inaugural Casey Skudin Memorial Volleyball Tournament was held to not only raise awareness for charity, but also provided an outlet for all to celebrate a life tragically taken too soon.

The tournament was created in memory of Skudin, a member of the New York Fire Department and the Long Beach community, who tragically passed away a year ago on a family vacation to Asheville, North Carolina. He was killed instantly when a tree fell onto his family’s car. Skudin, 45, left behind his wife, Angela, and their two children, Ben and CJ.

In Casey’s memory, the tournament raised money for the 343 Fund, a charity that allows first responders to get the help they need with silent issues such as depression, PTSD, trauma and substance abuse.

The 343 Fund also describes itself as being “committed to providing access to alternative healing modalities, and short-term financial assistance, for first responders and their families.”

“We’re here today to raise money for our first responders,” Angela Skudin said in her opening remarks. “When people want to find a different way to heal, that’s what the 343 Fund is for.”

Over a dozen courts saw teams hitting, spiking, and diving in a mix of competitiveness and playfulness in the sand on the sunny day. Each team registered also donated to the fund.

“It’s very, very hard to ask for help,” Jill Brodsky, the tournament’s organizer said. “We want to break that barrier down and show that it’s okay to ask for help, and that we are here for you. I think as we continue to grow, and more and more people go through our programs, that stigma will begin to normalize, and support will continue to grow.”

The tournament not only served as a fundraiser, but it also provided a place where everyone touched and impacted by Casey Skudin’s life could gather together in celebration.

“The support has been absolutely unbelievable,” Brodsky said. “For all the people he touched to be here and support the foundation we started in his honor, it’s so amazing. Angela had the vision for this. I worked in the nonprofit space for a few years, and I’m so happy that I got the opportunity to put my experience and knowledge to use in a great way.”

Watch as a community in Long Beach, NY bands together to honor the memory of Casey Skudin, a highly decorated FDNY firefighter and Town of Hempstead lifeguard, by helping to renovate the respective bedrooms of his beloved wife Angela and two sons. 🌊💙 NYC firefighter, Casey Skudin, was on a trip with his wife Angela and their children, Ben and CJ, to celebrate both Father’s Day and his birthday, when a 2000-lb tree crashed through the roof of their car during a windstorm. While the rest of the family was able to crawl out of the crushed vehicle to safety, Casey was killed instantly.

Now, in the aftermath of such an abrupt and heartbreaking loss, the Skudins are bravely trying to pick up the pieces of the life they had once known, as they move forward with strength, healing, and hope — all while remembering the wonderful father, husband, and real-life hero that Casey was in his community of Long Beach, NY. Which was why George Oliphant and the ‘George to the Rescue’ team were beyond thrilled for the opportunity to honor Casey’s memory by providing this warm and loving family of talented surfers with the necessary upgrades needed to make their home, which was in the process of being repaired by Casey at the time, a true sanctuary to retreat to and create beautiful new memories in together.

This ‘George to the Rescue’ episode serves as a testament to the enduring power of unconditional love, the uplifting waves of community support, as well as the promise of new beginnings in the wake of tragedy. Special thanks to all the generous vendors, contracting, and design teams who made this renovation possible for the Skudin family!

Join us for a day of fun and friendly competition in honor of our beloved friend, Casey Skudin.

The tournament will take place on Fri, Jun 21, 2024, starting at 8:30 AM at

The Town Park at Point Lookout, 1300 Lido Blvd. (entrance across from the Loop Parkway).

This is a family friendly event and spectators are welcome throughout day!

DETAILS:

When: Friday, June 21, 2024

What: The 2nd Annual Casey Skudin Memorial Volleyball Tournament (participate or spectate).

             6-person teams competitive teams (all team captains must register for a MINIMUM of 6 people.

Where:  The Town Park at Point Lookout, 1300 Lido Boulevard, (Stay right to Parking Lot #1)

Cost: $75 donation per person for volleyball (includes donation, event shirt & durable stadium cup).

Parking: The Town of Hempstead requires $10 per car.

Registration Deadline: Monday, June 5th at 11:59 PM

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

• 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM – Check-In
• 9:45 AM – Opening Ceremonies
• 10:00 AM – Volleyball tournament begins.
• Throughout the day, there will be cornhole, 50/50, merchandise tent, DJ, and more!
• Finals – Time depends on how the day moves.

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:

• Premiere Event T- Sponsor – $3,000 Donation
• Court Sponsor – $1,000 Donation
• Banner Sponsor – $200 Donation

We look forward to your participation, and we thank you in advance for your support!

Please contact Jill@343fund.org with questions or sponsorship donations.

For those who want to pay by check, please make the check payable to:

The Casey Skudin 343 Fund, PO BOX 667, Long Beach, NY 11561

*Please note there is no rain date and no refunds* 

On June 17, 2022, Casey Skudin’s life was tragically cut short. As a decorated FDNY firefighter for over 16 years and a loving husband and father, Casey lived a life of honor, bravery, service, accomplishment, and duty. His legacy to inspire, support and save lives continues through The Casey Skudin 343 Fund. 

The Casey Skudin 343 Fund is a 501c3 non-profit committed to providing First Responders with access to holistic and alternative treatment modalities for the purpose of healing traumas, and related mental health challenges, that arise with a career of public service on the front line.