To keep alive the memory of James Joseph "Jay" Kaplan close to his childhood home, the Ithaca City School District Board of Education recently approved a motion to name the Cayuga Heights Elementary School soccer field the "James Joseph Kaplan Field."

He died Dec. 24, 2008 at UCLA Medical Center at age 28.

To make the field fit for soccer, a group is attempting to raise approximately $3,000 to purchase new goals, to have the field properly lined and to make a sign with the official field name. Checks payable to "Andrew Janis FBO The James Joseph Kaplan Field Fund" may be sent James Joseph Kaplan Field Fund, c/o Tompkins Trust Company, P.O. Box 460, Ithaca, NY 14851, Attn: Caroline Lees.