The Churchville-Chili Leo Club will hold its 22nd annual “Leos versus Lions Charity Basketball Game” on Saturday, March 2 at 1 p.m. in Churchville-Chili Middle School Gym C. This year, proceeds from the game will be donated to the Willie Bee Foundation.
The Willie Bee Foundation, a 501©(3) not-for-profit charitable organization was established in August of 2017 to benefit local families who have a child facing a life threatening illness. The foundation is in memory of William Lou Donavon Beeman, who was diagnosed with AT/RT, an aggressive brain tumor, at three and a half months old in July of 2014. He courageously fought for almost twenty months, enduring numerous surgeries, six rounds of high dose chemotherapy with stem cell recovery, and thirty proton beam radiation treatments. Throughout his illness, he received treatment locally at Golisano Children’s Hospital as well as in Boston at Massachusetts General and Boston Children’s Hospitals. He died on March 18, 2016, just a few weeks shy of celebrating his second birthday.
The Willie Bee Foundation is on a mission to help ease the burden that a child’s life-threatening diagnosis places on a family. Money raised through the foundation funds personalized special supports that not every family has access to. These supports include a nurse practitioner, a child life specialist, art therapy, music therapy, and palliative care services. The foundation also seeks to provide additional monetary resources that can include grocery store gift cards or monetary assistance for unpaid time away from work, as well as access to a nutritionist that will enable a family to feed their child a real foods diet through a g-tube when oral feeding is not possible. The Willie Bee Foundation has provided monetary support for families traveling for treatment. Additionally, they have gifted children and teens with iPads, headphones, and iTunes gift cards, and have gifted families with much needed appliances for their homes. The foundation has provided mini-wishes for children and teens as well, and families have benefited from rent and mortgage support. The foundation looks to fill the gaps that exist when families have a child facing a life-threatening illness. They know first-hand the struggles that a family faces and the huge difference that caring, compassionate, and empathetic individuals can make. The foundation wants Will’s legacy to be one of generosity and goodwill.
The Leo Club is a made up of students in grades seven through 12 who perform a wide variety of community service activities and are proudly sponsored by the Churchville Lions Club
All proceeds from this basketball game will go directly to the Willie Bee Foundation. Donations are also being accepted. Make checks payable to: Leo Club, c/o MP Dewey, Churchville-Chili Senior High School, 5786 Buffalo Road, Churchville, NY 14428.
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