Kristin's Fund and A Call to Men team up to tackle domestic violence

Joe Palumbo never intended to use football to push his message across.

Palumbo founded Kristin’s Fund in 2017, eight years after his sister died due to domestic violence.

However, Palumbo and the fund will team up with a Call to Men for their fifth-annual football camp. The camp will be held Monday, June 27, and Tuesday, June 28, from 6-9 p.m. at Utica University.

Palumbo started the fund to combat and prevent future domestic violence incidents in the Mohawk Valley.

“Our goal was to raise money to fund initiatives in the community,” Palumbo said. “We had three successful gala fundraisers and have been able to do a bunch of different things.”

In 2017, Kristin’s Fund provided funding to the Catholic Charities of Herkimer County to hire a full-time educator. Next, Palumbo worked with the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department to put a new policy in place toward domestic violence.

More:Oneida County Sheriff, YWCA launch multi-partner domestic violence team

“If a certain level of assessment is deemed high risk, then there are certain protocols in place to prevent it from escalating into a fatal situation,” he said.

Palumbo met Tony Porter at the organization’s first gala. Porter serves as the CEO of A Call to Men and was the keynote speaker.

Like Kristin’s Fund, A Call to Men aims to reduce domestic violence and sexual assault. It works with the NFL, NBA and branches of the military.

“He was talking a lot about how domestic violence is largely perpetuated by men,” he said. “If we want to reduce domestic violence, we need to get to our men when they are boys.”

From there, Palumbo approached Porter with the idea of a football camp.

“They’re getting not only football, but they’re getting the same type of messaging that a lot of young boys need to hear,” he said. “They may not be hearing it from other sources.”

Campers arrive in Utica from all upstate New York, Palumbo said.

A few years ago, a father and son visited from Oneonta. Palumbo explained to them the work Kristin’s Fund does, and the father and son were stunned.

The child’s mother was killed a few years prior by a boyfriend in a domestic violence incident.

“They just came because it was a free football camp, but he’s been through it,” Palumbo said. “I had tears in my eyes. That’s the type of thing I never expected when we did this.”

Both Palumbo and A Call to Men understand the value of employing coaches and other football stars.

“We try to get the message to these kids, and then other kids start to follow their lead,” he said. “Maybe then someone can or encourage a friend to get help for a relationship.”

Coaches will spend 30 minutes teaching football and 30 informing campers.

This year’s coaches include Blaise Faggiano, head coach of Utica University, Brian Angelichio, an Illion native and tight ends coach for the Minnesota Vikings and Don McPherson, Syracuse football icon.

McPherson began his advocacy work in the 1980s, when he was a student at Syracuse as part of Governor Mario Cuomo’s program called Athletes against Drunk Driving.

“While I was playing in the NFL, I started some programs on Long Island and in Canada,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed the work.”

McPherson said that served as the impetus of his retirement in 1994.

“I tended to enjoy it more than playing football,” he said.

After he left football, Northeastern University hired McPherson to work in its Center for the Study of Sport in Society.

McPherson said he didn’t plan to focus on domestic violence.

“One component was a gender bias prevention program, and that made me recognize that young men are raised in the hyper masculine world of sport,” he said.

McPherson said many people assume that toxic masculinity reigns worse among football players due to cases like Deshaun Watson’s, but he debunks that.

“The football thing fits that narrative,” he said. “Football is a violent sport, and people think players are trained to be violent. I played football for 30 years, and I consider myself a pacifist.”

He mentioned he’s unaware of what he'll be doing at the camp, but he hopes it isn’t football related.

“The whole point is football might get them in there and have some fun,” he said. “But then let’s talk about some real serious topics that are going to benefit them in the long run.”

The camp is free, and participants can RSVP at kristinsfund.com. Walk-ups will also be accepted.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Kristin's Fund and A Call to Men team up to tackle domestic violence