The 4th Annual Team Blaise Golf Tournament was held October 6 at the Whispering Pines Country Club, and once again it was a great turnout for a great cause.
The morning of the tournament began with overcast skies, but that didn’t diminish what was perfectly clear to everyone who attended. Over one hundred people came out to play golf and support the Team Blaise Foundation. They came from near and far, with one player who traveled all the way from Virginia.
Team Blaise Foundation was founded in honor of Blaise McNair, a young kind hearted soul who passed away from the result of brain cancer at the age of 12. Blaise’s passion was golf, so the foundation raises funds to help kids by doing what he loved most.
The legacy that young Blaise left is continuing to impact lives. Not only the ones that attended and played in the tournament, but the ones who lives the foundation has touched. A young cancer survivor, Yemayah, came with her family in a show of support for the foundation, and all it had done for her.
Yemayah and her support team.
Yemayah’s smile and laughter is contagious. She and her family were touched by the generosity of Team Blaise at the golf tournament, and the generosity has been felt by many others.
There was a sign for each child the foundation had helped. Each sign had a picture of the child, the cancer they were fighting and what the Team Blaise Foundation had provided for them.
Throughout the day, there was a whole lot of laughter and an occasional tear, but mostly there was hope. Admittedly, this was a different kind of hope, but hope nonetheless. The money raised goes to bring just that to these children.
Hope, in Yemayah’s eyes, is a play-set for her yard that she has yearned for, and Team Blaise was able to give her this summer.
Signs at Team Blaise Golf Tournament
Brooke had hoped to go to the beach, so team Blaise made it happen. The foundation sent little Ridge and his family to Disney. Sidney had wanted for an iPad, so Team Blaise delivered.
Blaise and his family knew what hope meant for them. When 10-year-old Blaise was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor, initially hope was a cure. But a short time later, hope was for one more day with Blaise.
They began trips to Disney, Hawaii, and even to meet professional basketball players LeBron James and Phil Ford. Suddenly their hope was just to get to the next thing on the list. Through it all, Blaise kept a smile and never complained.
Linda Mabe, Blaise’s Mom, knows the pain parents go through. She started the foundation to help others going through the same fight.
For the past four years, Linda Mabe and her team have done an amazing job putting on the golf tournament. As it grows each year, the planning begins earlier and earlier.
It is all worth it when you see children like Yemayah with a beautiful smile on her face paying tribute to a young boy she never met.
Blaise Edward McNair gained his angel wings on January 3, 2014. He was only 12 years old, but his legacy of love, humor, and caring lives on in the foundation. If one had to guess, a safe bet would be that his angel wings were Carolina blue for his beloved Tarheels.
For more information on the Blaise Foundation, please contact Team Blaise Foundation, P.O. Box 1031, West End, N.C. 27376 or click on the link: http://www.teamblaisefoundation.com/.
