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Sandwich fishing tournament aims to help children of drug-addicted parents

Cape Cod Times - 5/27/2017

May 27--SANDWICH -- A young mother has organized a fishing tournament June 10 to raise money for children who have been displaced by parental drug addiction.

"My extended family has been impacted by the addiction epidemic," said Jaime Hoctor, of Sandwich. "I have children in my extended family who are being raised by grandparents."

Hoctor, an attorney with Nutter, McClennen & Fish, is the mother of two young children and doesn't have much free time. The spring was even busier than usual because her husband, Shane Hoctor, ran for Sandwich selectman.

But Hoctor invoked the you-only-live-once philosophy and dived into a project she's been thinking of for a long time. She wanted to help the children who have been innocent victims of the opioid epidemic, who had to move from their homes into foster care or in with another relative when their parents became addicted.

In the past four years, the number of child care and protection cases in the Barnstable County-Town of Plymouth Juvenile Court has increased by 92 percent -- the largest increase in the state, according to court statistics. From 2012 to 2016, the number of cases has gone from 102 to 196. Statewide, similar cases have increased 57 percent from 2,459 to 3,855. In many cases, grandparents are forced to become primary caregivers again.

"Grandparents haven't planned for this," Hoctor said. "So this will be money for therapy, tennis lessons ... just to give these children something that they need."

Hoctor wanted to do a fishing tournament because her grandfather and father were commercial lobstermen who worked out of the Sandwich Marina, where the tournament festivities are centered, though boaters can fish from any port. Participants just need to weigh-in at the Pilot House Restaurant and Lounge at the Sandwich Marina, where there will be a lunch and entertainment by the Fey Band.

There are raffle prizes, a silent auction and cash prizes for the first, second and third heaviest striped bass, she said. The entry fee is $400 per boat and the top prize is $2,500, second place is $1,500 and third place is $750.

But the first prize could be as much as $50,000 if the weight of the heaviest fish is even, ending with .00, she said. The potential extra prize money is based on an insurance policy purchased for the tournament.

"We've got a lot of great support from businesses, and local fisherman are excited," Hoctor said. "And the other thing is, there are a lot of people affected by this epidemic. They wanted to help and never knew how. One of our sponsors has lost a brother, and she said this is a way to heal."

Shore fishermen are welcome to join the tournament. So far, only 15 boats have signed up but Hoctor said she hopes a few more will join them.

Money raised will go into an account that's been set up through the nonprofit agency Family Continuity to benefit Cape Cod children affected by addiction. The children and families applying for assistance do not have to be clients of the nonprofit human service agency, she said.

-- Follow K.C. Myers: @kcmyerscct

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(c)2017 Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.

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