ASHLAND — When Evan Stuart — now a senior at Crestview High School — was in fourth grade, his family received bad news: his grandmother, Sheila Roper, had breast cancer.
Stuart’s first brush with fundraising was right before she was set to start treatment, when Evan and his family made custom T-shirts that were sold to work colleagues. On her last day in the office, all of her coworkers were wearing t-shirts supporting her.
Soon after Roper finished treatment, Evan and his family started raising money for the American Cancer Society’s “Relay for Life.”
The family kept at it until last November, when Stuart decided to start Strong Choice Inc., a local cancer non-profit that would keep “100 percent of the money” in the community, Stuart said.
“We started our foundation to make sure that all of the money we raise can stay local and help all of the local cancer patients and stuff like that,” he said. So it’s not really going everywhere and we’re completely volunteer based, so there’s no salaries or anything that come out of what we raise.”
According to Stuart, the money that Strong Choice raises will go toward local cancer patients and their needs. The organization might pay for landscaping at a sick person’s home, buy gas cards or pay some medical bills.
They’ve even discussed paying for a spa day for someone with breast cancer, Stuart said.
“Whatever a person has a need for, we would come up with a way to help them,” he said.
In March, Strong Choice ran its first fundraising event; a purse raffle that raised $2,000 for the organization. They’re planning to go even bigger on July 8 with their “Who’s Ready to Tee Off ‘Fore Cancer” golf tournament at Brookside Golf Course.
Solo participants can take part for $75, while teams can join for $300. Registration and a putting tournament starts at 8 a.m. on July 8 and the shotgun start is at 9 a.m.
“It’s gonna be a big event for us, we hope. It’s the first time we’ve ever done something like this so our goal is to get at least 15 teams out there and make a decent amount of money for our foundation,” Stacey Stuart, Evan Stuart’s mother, said.
Groups or individuals interested in donating for the golf tournament can contact Strong Choice at 419-606-5905 or email them at scfdn.inc@gmail.com.
