Linda and Elliot Sheftel were happy to see the Allen High baseball team do exceptionally well this spring, and not just because Elliott is an Allen graduate.
Through the Justin Sheftel Memorial Fund, the two of them offered their support for young Allentown baseball players for years through their support of “The Drive,” which was a nonprofit program focused on developing inner-city youth. It was established in 2010 and served as a mentor-driven organization designed to improve basic baseball schools and improve the high school programs.
While no one on the current Canaries squad came through “The Drive,” the interest it sparked in the city may have planted the seeds of what blossomed in 2026 with Allen winning league and district championships.
For more than two decades the Sheftel Memorial Fund has offered support to numerous organizations that make the Lehigh Valley a better place.
On Saturday, the 22nd Sheftel Memorial Softball Tournament will be held at the Lehigh County Athletic Fields.
The mission is the same it has been for the last two decades, to “celebrate Justin by providing athletic and educational opportunities for underserved youth in the greater Lehigh Valley.”
Justin Sheftel had just graduated from Parkland High School in 2005 when he was killed while celebrating Senior Week in Ocean City, Maryland. He was struck by a car that was later confirmed to have been driven by someone speeding and DUI at the time of the accident.
Sheftel’s grieving friends quickly arranged a softball tournament in the weeks after his death, and under the vision and direction of his parents, Linda and Elliot, the event has continued to grow over the past two decades to the point where it has become one of the best days on the summer sports calendar.
The slo-pitch softball tournament is the centerpiece of the event, but there is much more going on.
There is a Mocktail sponsored by the local Red Robin restaurants, which shows that non-alcoholic beverages can also be a thirst quencher on a hot summer day.
There will be food trucks, a silent auction, raffles, a tricky tray, activities for the kids and three different clinics — one for girls softball players in grades 4-8 run by former Northampton High star Devyn Demchak, a youth baseball clinic run by local youth, high school and college coaches for kids in grades 4-5 and an all-star baseball clinic for kids in grades 6-12 featuring Hall of Famer Steve Carlton.
It is all about giving donations to deserving organizations and kids.
“I think we’re probably over $800,000 in money we’ve given out and I think we’re going to hit $1 million fairly soon,” Linda Sheftel said. “That includes the nonprofit organizations and just the scholarships. We have been so happy with the scholarship program that this year we decided to open it up to everyone in the Lehigh Valley, all the schools. We had been giving to Parkland, Allen and Dieruff kids, but we let all of the schools know we are doing this and I think we got 13 applications. So, we had a lot of work to do to come down to our top four.”
The winners are Edwannys Antoine, an Allen High graduate who will be attending Mercy University; Emma Carlson, a Parkland graduate headed to DeSales; Kate Assad, a Freedom High graduate who will be attending King’s College; and Dieruff High’s basketball and track standout Aniya Holder who will be going to the University of Iowa. Assad and Antoine were both Da Vinci Science Center scholarship winners as well.
Antoine was one of the area’s top students and will pursue a nursing degree in New York City. Assad played basketball and volleyball at Freedom, and Carlson was a cross country runner.
“We’ve met with all of them already and they are so wonderful,” Sheftel said. “Everybody on our board and everyone who works with us thinks this is the most important thing that we do.”
Sheftel said the format of the softball tournament has changed and there are now three classifications and they move into gold, silver and bronze divisions.
“It works out well because the teams have different backgrounds,” she said. “Some of the teams we have are there just to support us and have win and enjoy the day and if they win a couple of games, great. There are other teams that are very competitive and really want to win and get that recognition. They will be playing against teams that are similar to them as opposed to the teams that are just getting beat up.”
The clinics and Carlton’s appearance also are top attractions.
“Last year we had 125 or so kids for the clinics and this year we are going to hit that number again,” Sheftel said. “It was just unfortunate last year that we had to cancel it because of the rain. That was not a win for anybody, but it let us know that managing the clinics with the help of St. Luke’s is the right way to go and we’re getting in touch with a larger portion of the area. That has been helpful.”
Sheftel said having Carlton back is another special thing for the event.
“We changed that up a little, too, and if there’s a kid who likes pitching the most, we try to get him in a group that will work with Steve,” she said. “It really worked out well and there are so many other really great coaches out there who work well with the kids. The kids learn how to catch, throw, run, hit … all the basics are reinforced over and over again. I am so happy with how that has worked out well and to have Steve here each is so special, too. He wants to be here every year and we love having him. He’s amazing.”
Carlton, of course, was known simply as “Lefty,” and Justin Sheftel was also a baseball player that threw lefthanded.
More than two decades after that terribly tragic day, the Sheftels have not only kept their son’s name prominent but have taken the ultimate in negatives and turned it into a positive thing to help others.
“This tournament has kept us busy, and the other thing is I will never, ever forget how the community rallied around us from the very beginning and pulled us up,” she said. “They made us recognize that this is a good thing to do to keep us engaged. To be able to give back to others is really a bonus. We feel good about the memorial fund, especially with the scholarship winners because they come back and see us and tell us what the scholarship meant to them. That’s what it’s all about and it’s very special.”