The Churchville-Chili LEO Club held its 22nd annual March Mayhem benefit basketball game on March 2 at the Churchville-Chili Middle School gym. This activity was to raise funds on behalf of the Willie Bee Foundation.
The LEO Club is comprised of students in grades seven through 12 who perform a wide variety of community service activities. LEO Club members raised funds through donation sponsors and were joined by the Churchville Lions Club, their sponsoring organization. The school Unified Basketball program also participated and played against the LEOS in a fun-filled display of sportsmanship. A team of Willie Bee Foundation members and their families also participated as well as members of the school staff and Churchville Fire Department. The high school boys and girls basketball programs also played against each other in a fast-paced, high-flying display of those students’ individual athletic abilities.
This event raised $2,306.43, which includes a fundraising effort by Itacate Mexican Restaurant in North Chili. This has brought the total amount raised in excess of $50,000 for the 22 years of this event.
This activity was organized by physical education teacher Mary Pat Dewey, who is also the LEO Club Advisor and coach of the Unified Basketball Program. She will be retiring in June after 35 years of teaching at Churchville-Chili.
The Willie Bee Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization that was established in August 2017 to benefit local families with a child facing a life threatening illness. The foundation is in memory of William Lou Donovan Beeman, who was diagnosed with a rare aggressive brain tumor at three months old. He endured numerous surgeries, several rounds of high dose chemotherapy and numerous radiation treatments. Will died just days before his second birthday. His parents, Kristine and Clay Beeman, are both Churchville-Chili graduates, and Kristine currently teaches English in the senior high school. The Willie Bee Foundation is on a mission to ease the burden that a life-threatening diagnosis places on a family with a wide variety of support mechanisms. The foundation wants Will’s legacy to be one of generosity and goodwill.
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