Oaklawn Rotary donated a total of $9,000 to three area charities from funds raised by the organization's pickleball tournament held last October.
The group's first Dink or Treat Pickleball Tournament was held at Hot Springs Health and Fitness, and with the success of the tournament, the second annual event is set for Oct. 12-13. The proceeds from last year's tournament were divided between Princess Nora's Warrior Foundation, Our Promise Cancer Resources and Colton's Crusaders, with each organization receiving $3,000.
"I don't know if you guys remember just over a year ago, maybe a year and a half ago, I came to the club and said, 'I think we should do a pickleball tournament as a fundraiser,'" Scott Burton, one of the club's members, said.
Video not playing? Click here https://www.youtube.com/embed/VTYw69HSgpU
"And the looks that I got from you guys was a lot like the looks that I get from my wife at home -- some eye rolls and some confusion. ... We put it together, and we are proud to give away some money today."
Burton said several deserving nonprofits were considered.
"We had to figure out who we're going to give the money to, and there were so many places and people that were in need," he said. "Well, these three today were nearest and dearest to our hearts. So we're glad to give out some money to these three today."
Jeremy McConathy, who with his wife started Princess Nora's Warrior Foundation after their daughter passed from a rare form of cancer shortly before her second birthday, said the organization has helped fund cancer research primarily since its inception.
"Long story short, our daughter passed away ... from ETMR," he said. "It's a pediatric cancer, and that kind of just thrust us into the whole realm of -- it's like when you buy a new car, you start seeing them everywhere. Unfortunately, so is this exclusive club; you start meeting new people that you -- it's not a club you want to be in. ... We focus primarily on funding research. We have funded research -- again, my wife would have the exact numbers for that -- but I want to say it's a little over $50,000 for these two research projects."
Stacey Pierce, the executive director for Our Promise, said the funds will help pay for 60 nights for cancer patients at the Our Promise house, which is nearing completion.
"Our Promise has been around for about 13 years," she said. "We started out raising money in the form of gas cards and grocery payments and mortgage payments and things like that for patients. Then we saw a greater need. We cover about 26 counties, and the patients in those counties travel into Garland County for their treatment.
"We plan to open, hopefully, after spring break -- once we figure out how to how to do everything -- but it will house about 10 patients and their families. They're going to stay for free, so this will go to provide about 60 nights for patients for the year. So this is a giant, giant help for us, and we really, really appreciate it."
Audrey White, whose son Colton was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancer involving immature nerve cells, in 2022, said the funding will help pay for a new treatment for her son's cancer.
"When we were in Las Vegas, we found a new therapy, so this will actually help pay for that machine that we're going to need," she said. "So this is a huge blessing because I really didn't know where we're going to get the money to pay for something like that.
"God always provides for us, and the donations, but mostly the prayers -- because we are people of faith, some days, that's all you have -- and so when you guys all pray for us, we feel your prayers. We feel that when we're in the hospitals or we're going through something, we feel it," White said.