3-on-3 fundraiser proves our community is a powerful support

During “Genius Hour” at Chatfield Public Schools, students come up with a project that helps others, helps the world, and helps themselves. Four boys from the Chatfield sixth grade class came up with the idea to do a 3-on-3 basketball tournament that happened on March 16, 2019. It was a fundraiser for the families of Meela Hoover and Gabby Brown, who have been diagnosed with cancer.

On March 3, 2017, at the age of three, Meela Hoover was diagnosed with a type of leukemia that affects all of her bone marrow.

Gabby Brown has also been diagnosed with leukemia at a young age. She celebrated her first birthday last fall, just days before she was diagnosed. Thankfully, she is expected to be cancer-free by April.

Keegan Patten, Westin Nolte, Reggie Allen, and Aiden Johnsrud started the fundraiser with a goal of having 20 teams participating at the event. Even with a slow start with one team for about three weeks, they ended up having 53 teams by the day of the fundraiser, absolutely crushing their original goal.

It was $40 per team to enter, which means that with just the teams that entered put the amount raised at $2,120. When I talked with Keegan, Westin, Reggie, and Aiden, they said that their goal by the end of the day of the fundraiser was $4,000 in total. The total has yet to be added up.

The boys told me that their favorite part about starting this fundraiser was getting the first couple of teams registered. They said it gave them a sense of achievement and knowing that they are doing something good for the families of Gabby and Meela made them feel very proud. The boys also talked about how they hope for this to become an annual event so they can keep giving back to families who may be struggling.

When I asked what the boys learned from this fundraiser, Aiden Johnsrud said, “I think what we learned from this is that even if you are little, you can still do things like this.” And Reggie said, “Even to just to have a family member laugh, who is dealing with cancer or their kid having cancer, I think it really pushes us to do this.”

At the tournament, there was a gym full of basketball games with people of ages third grade all the way to adults playing. There was a cafeteria full of people conversing and enjoying the concessions, but there was something that caught my eye when I walked in. That was the cards made for Meela and Gabby.

At these stations with the cards, anyone could sign them and leave a message they wanted for the girls. On them were positive messages, encouraging the girls to keep on fighting and how they are doing an amazing job. The community has been rooting for these girls since they have been diagnosed and have continually shown that through the months of Gabby’s treatments and the years of Meela’s treatments.

For the future, the boys hope for this to be an annual event so they can keep raising money for families who need it. They also hope to get as many volunteers as possible if this tournament continues.

It is fundraisers like these that bring communities together and help families that may need that little boost of confidence. Our community is very good at showing the families that they have an army behind them willing to help them fight through the tough times.

The boys seemed very proud of the work they had done, and they should very well be. If you would like to help with any fundraisers like this one, consider donating or volunteering. Something as little as a couple of dollars or a couple of hours of volunteering can help so much. If you have a cause you want to fundraise for, be like Keegan, Westin, Reggie, and Aiden, and commit to what you stand for. Get help from the community. Like Keegan and Westin both brought up during the interview, it doesn’t matter the age you are to make a change for someone and their family.