‘Fairfield Legend’ Battles Cancer For 2nd Time, Community Rallies

FAIRFIELD, CT — The community is rallying around 40-year Fairfield Adult Softball League Director Jimmy "The Wiz" Staneck, who is battling cancer for the second time.

Joe Cetta, who led a fundraising campaign for Staneck on GoFundMe in 2016, has started another effort in Staneck’s latest battle.

“He's been a staple of Fairfield Town Sports for over 40 years... From being an amazing softball player himself to now running the league, who knows where the sport would be without him,” Cetta wrote of Staneck in the 2016 campaign.

Cetta recently created the “Jimmy Staneck - Fairfield Legend” page on GoFundMe. He wrote that Staneck was so “thankful and extremely humbled” by all his friends and family’s donations and kind words in the previous GoFundMe effort.

“He's been fighting every day since and keeps fighting,” Cetta wrote in the post. “He's scheduled again for another surgery and time away from work and could [use] our help.

“I'm not sure if you have been affected by Jimmy, but I can tell you he's one of the nicest people I've ever met with a great heart and his so important to Fairfield sports and recreation.”

Staneck was featured in the Fairfield Parks and Recreation’s Employee Spotlight on Facebook in 2019.

“He manages multiple leagues, schedules, umpires and playoffs!” officials wrote in the post. “We are so lucky to have a great adult softball league in town!”

More than $11,000 has been raised in the latest GoFundMe campaign, as of Friday afternoon.

For more information, or to make a donation, visit the GoFundMe page here.