Courtesy: Kevin Boeckenhauer Family Foundation
Benefit To Honor Chicago Area High School Swimming Star Who Passed Away of Cancer To Be Held in Roselle, IL on Saturday, July 29, 2023
Roselle, IL- July 13, 2023- The Kevin Boeckenhauer Family Foundation, a Chicago-area philanthropic organization that provides financial assistance to cancer patients, raises funds for health-related charities and sponsors scholarships for local college students, will hold its third annual Kevin Boeckenhauer Memorial Fundraiser at the Seasons 4 HOA Pool and Clubhouse, 921 Springfield Dr., Roselle, IL on Saturday, July 29, 2023, from 3p-10p. The foundation was created to honor former Lake Park High School and club swimmer Kevin Boeckenhauer, who tragically passed away at the young age of 23 after a heroic 7-year battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a type of cancer that occurs in and around the bones, typically in children and young adults.
Activities:
· Swimming- Kevin’s favorite activity- in the Seasons 4 pool
· Bags Tournament with cash prizes
· Bingo, with gift card prizes
· A rubber duck draw: buy a duck, win a mystery bottle of wine or spirits
· Silent auction featuring vacation packages, theater tickets, electronics, tickets to sporting events and autographed sports memorabilia.
· Raffle for baskets and prizes valued from $20 to $500
· Dinner provided by Aunt Tina’s Sound Bites
· Cash bar
· Music and dancing
Sponsors:
· Transitions Hospice
· Church St. Brewing
· Aunt Tina’s Sound Bites
Tickets:
· Adults (18+): $55; includes swimming, dinner, two drink tickets- alcoholic or non-alcohol, one raffle ticket
· Teen (13-17): $35; includes all the above, but two tickets for non-alcoholic drinks
· Youth (6-12): $15; same as teen
· Under Age 6: Free
Event tickets available through www.kevinwantsacure.org or the Kevin Boeckenhauer Family Foundation Facebook page. Tickets also can be purchased at the door.
Beneficiaries:
After expenses, all proceeds raised from the event will be donated to the worthy causes the Kevin Boeckenhauer Family Foundation is supporting this year:
· Sarcoma Foundation of America
· Ronald McDonald House
· Chicago Lighthouse (for the Blind)
· American Diabetes Association
· Two college scholarships for local high school students- one boy, one girl
The KRB Giving Program:
In addition to the above initiatives, proceeds from the event will be used to support the KRB Giving Program, an annual grant given to a cancer patient to help them defray their personal expenses and medical bills. This year’s grant recipient is Kaiger Palazzo, a 2022 graduate of St. Charles North High School in St. Charles, IL, a suburb of Chicago. Kaiger, who is now a student at the University of Toledo and a member of the school’s Division I baseball team, is courageously batting Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma, a form of cancer that affects nerve tissue and is the third most common type of cancer in children after leukemia and brain cancer.
Last year, the KRB Giving Program awarded a $5,000 grant to Chloe Jarvis, a 25-year-old Chicago-area woman who was undergoing aggressive treatment for Stage 4 Lymphoma. 2021’s grant recipient was T.J. Kutil, a Lake Park High School student battling testicular cancer.
About Kevin Boeckenhauer:
Kevin Boeckenhauer started swimming at age 9 and never stopped. Kevin was a 4-year varsity swimmer at Lake Park High School and an accomplished club swimmer. He was on track to swim in college, then cancer fatefully and awfully intervened when he was just 16 years old.
Despite having battled Ewing’s Sarcoma for 2 years, Kevin tried out for the swim team at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, where he majored in physical therapy. Weakened by the years of radiation and chemotherapy treatments, Kevin’s body wasn’t the same and he fell just short of his goal of making the team. Although he wasn’t an official member, the team took him in and made him one of their own.
Sadly, Kevin lost his brave battle against Ewing’s Sarcoma on October 13, 2019, seven years and 12 days after his diagnosis. While Kevin may not be with us any longer, the Kevin Boeckenhauer Family Foundation keeps his memory alive by raising funds to provide financial assistance to cancer patients, support cancer research, provide college scholarships to area students and support health-related charities.
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