KidsPeace dodgeball tournament aims to raise funds for youth programs

KidsPeace is using dodgeball to do more than fill a gym. The 3rd Annual KidsPeace Dodgeball Tournament was scheduled for Thursday, June 18, 2026, at the Orchard Hills Campus in Orefield, with team registration closing June 5 and the KidsPeace Lehigh Valley Board of Associates steering the event.

The tournament has been built as a team-building fundraiser for businesses and community groups, with music, local food trucks and prizes for the top teams. The money is aimed at KidsPeace youth programs, with registration fees helping pay for quality-of-life improvements in the residential treatment and hospital areas at Orchard Hills and for the Healthy Communities Fund, which gives local families access to mental and behavioral health services at KidsPeace clinics in Bethlehem and on Green Street in Allentown.

Last year’s edition showed why the format has caught on. The 2025 tournament drew 16 teams and raised $31,000 from team registration fees, nearly doubling the amount brought in the year before. Tuskes Homes, the defending champion, beat Capital Blue Cross in the final, while the field also included People Security Bank and Trust, Benecon, BSI Corporate Benefits, Lehigh Valley Health Network, North Star Construction, Boyle Construction, Burkholders HVAC, First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union and United Concordia.

The tournament began in 2024 with 12 teams and $17,000 in proceeds, money that supported Mo’s Closet and Coping Kits for foster families and children facing mental health challenges. That early turnout set the template for a competition that has quickly become a repeat stop for companies across the Lehigh Valley.

Founded in 1882, KidsPeace operates a 110-bed psychiatric hospital at Orchard Hills and provides outpatient care in the Lehigh Valley. Shawn Hughes, executive vice president of BSI Corporate Benefits and chair of the KidsPeace Lehigh Valley Board of Associates, said the event has worked because it blends fundraising with teamwork and shared purpose. The formula has given the dodgeball bracket a clear payoff: every dodge, block and throw is tied directly to services for children and families in Lehigh County.