Ten-year-old Jeffrey Hayek was a smiley redhead who loved baseball—and life.

He played pitcher and first base, and lived for the big strikeout. Without warning, clotting complications in Jeff’s head took him away from us on June 26, 2007. To celebrate Jeff’s life, the Hayek family has partnered with the Linganore Oakdale Urbana Athletic Association (LOUYAA) to build a “field of dreams” baseball diamond for the youth of Frederick County. We’re now raising money to pay for and maintain the field, add amenities like a scoreboard and lighting, and pursue other local youth baseball initiatives.

LIFE

Jeffrey Hayek squeezed every ounce of “the good life” out of his short 10 years.

He loved baseball, sleepovers with his friends, sneaking root beers with his cousin Ross, going to Ravens games with his dad and snuggling on the family room sofa with his mom. He sought out fun and happiness so enthusiastically and so successfully, it was almost as if he knew he needed to hurry.

ILLNESS

On June 19, 2007, Jeffrey Hayek went to bed
in seemingly good health.

The next morning, Jeff woke up with nausea and a severe headache. A CT scan revealed that he had bleeding in his head, and he was flown by helicopter from Frederick to Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Once at the hospital, the bleed had clotted, and Jeff experienced further clotting complications over the next several days. Clinically diagnosed with Central Venous Sinus Thrombosis, his condition was brought about from blood abnormalities unbeknownst to our family. Jeff’s health deteriorated rapidly.
He passed away on June 26.

FIELD

Jeff always wanted the excitement of
playing on “the big diamond.”

Now generations of young ballplayers will have that chance.  Jeffy’s Field is the showcase baseball diamond for 10-12 year-olds in Frederick County. The idea was the inspiration of our then pastor Bert Lane. The field was originally planned to be located on a new church campus, but the church was never built so the field site was relocated to a rec league (LOUYAA) field complex in Jeff’s hometown of New Market, MD. Based on a field layout offered by Ripken Design, and supported by LOUYAA and literally hundreds of donations for Jeff, the field was dedicated on June 15, 2015. The fund continues to raise money for field maintenance, additional field amenities, and new baseball projects in Frederick County.

WHAT's NEXT

OPPORTUNITIES FOR GIVING