Tommy Bohanon Foundation’s charity softball tournament raises $38K

 

The Tommy Bohanon Foundation hosted a three-in-one softball event Sunday morning to help local families in need this holiday season.

Pott’s Sports Cafe, one of the foundation’s top sponsors throughout the year, won the tournament.

This is the third year in a row the former NFL fullback hosted the event. The foundation is spreading holiday cheer by hosting its third annual charity softball tournament, along with a toy drive and a hurricane relief drive.

The softball tournament was open to the public, and admission was one unwrapped toy per person.

Money raised during this event will go towards purchasing gifts and hurricane relief necessities for families and children in Southwest Florida.

Former NFL fullback, Tommy Bohanon, returned to his hometown in Southwest Florida to pursue his vision of ending generational poverty for at-risk youth.

He said he’s looking forward to bringing holiday cheer to families who need it now more than ever.

“Because for most of them, they may have lost everything in the storm. You know, we’ve seen total devastation where people don’t even have homes to go to. So, if we can provide that little bit of normalcy where they get some Christmas presents and different things of that nature. You know, maybe that’s the thing that they can really say, you know what, 2022 was a hard year, but we had some things go right. So, if we can be that little bit of normalcy, where we can help these kids just shine a bright light on them and tell them that we care about you, that you are special, and we’re here for you if you need anything. That’s what this is all about,” said Bohanon.

The Tommy Bohanon Foundation is a nonprofit organization working to ensure that every child can achieve their goals on and off of the field.

“We know that the youth is our future. So, we want to make sure that we give them every advantage that they possibly can in order to succeed. Because we know it’s hard in the real world. So, if we can help give them a hand up, not a handout, then we’re doing a great job because we want to make sure that these kids are able to, you know, have every advantage that they possibly can in order to truly succeed. Because we have some amazing kids here in southwest Florida, and they can truly make a difference,” Bohanon said.

“We know that parents and grandparents and whoever is taking care of children right now, they don’t know where they’re gonna potentially be able to get toys,” said Katie Bohanon, executive director of the Tommy Bohanon Foundation. “They might not even have homes right now, they might be staying with friends. This is an opportunity to be able to make sure that no child goes without a gift this year, this holiday season.”

“There are thousands of people in the area who needed something to do on the weekends, and this is the perfect way to do it,” said Matthew Kemp of the Bad News Bears. “Especially as grown adults who just want to have a combined love for something, and I think that softball is a pretty good way to do that.”

The Bohanons say they raised $38,000 at the event. The donations will be used to buy toys for kids and items for families in need.