Lacrosse Players Take Field for a Cause

Andrew Leavitt surely made family, friends and even strangers proud Saturday evening when Ellen's Heart and Soul Shootout began under a mostly cloudy sky at Doug White Memorial Field on the campus of Concord-Carlisle High School. Some bits of blue were visible, where the sun was pouring through — maybe a sign from above that Leavitt's mother was watching the fundraising lacrosse tournament, which was founded in her honor.

For four hours, five teams — Polk High, Peabody, Concord-Carlisle, Gordon College and a club team titled Shake N' Bake — made up of high school alumni, college students and plain-old lacrosse players, battled their sticks for the Virginia Thurston Healing Garden, an educational non-profit dedicated to providing support to help the healing process for women experiencing breast cancer.

Leavitt and his friends thought of the idea not too long ago to run a lacrosse tournament, initially simply for fun. But Leavitt realized it would be a great opportunity to intertwine breast cancer fundraising, something Leavitt has much experience with.

An Event Management major at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Leavitt is also the son of Maurice Leavitt and the late Ellen Leavitt. The latter passed away in 2004 after fighting breast cancer for 11 years. It is Ellen's name that adorns the tournament.

Maurice said his son has been running breast cancer benefits for many years, participating in Avon Foundation for Women breast cancer walks, deejaying at benefit dances with 2,000 kids and raising money for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

While Andrew said he enjoyed past benefits, he admitted that he has "outgrown that phase."

"I wanted to move away from breast cancer walks," Leavitt said, expressing his interest in creating fun, inventive events for people of "different age groups" to participate in.

And that's where sporting events came in play.

Once the idea for the lacrosse tournament was grounded, Leavitt and his friends called friends, spread the word on Facebook and contacted friends of friends to make it happen. Leavitt rented the fields, got in touch with Boston's professional indoor lacrosse team, The Boston Blazers, who sponsored the night's event, and even recruited help from the Army, who was on hand to give out water bottles to patrons.

In addition to the lacrosse games, a silent auction was held, where Red Sox tickets, Boston Blazers tickets, Boston Cannons tickets, a Boston Harbor cruise for six, and a girls shopping night were auctioned off. A disc jockey provided the tournament with a soundtrack from the sidelines.

Young and old sat and watched from the bleachers and the sidelines.

Judy and Dave Smith said that they went to the benefit because of the "good cause" and also to watch their son, Michael Smith, play in the tournament.

Alisha Deary said that she went to the fundraiser to show her support.

 "I have a lot of friends playing and I know Andrew and it's a great cause," Deary said.

Pam Sawyer, chairman of the board of the Healing Garden, is a family friend of the Leavitts.

 "This is [Andrew's] mission," said Sawyer, who has walked for Ellen in Avon walks. "He's doing this in honor of his mother."

Carel Nathan, the Healing Garden's executive director, said that she was happy the funds raised at the benefit went to the Healing Garden because "you know exactly where the funding is going and how it's being used."

Nathan said that the Healing Garden offers women the experience to leave the stress of chemotherapy, radiation and any other sadness of cancer behind.

"We provide massages, yoga, art therapy, music therapy, support groups, education, and we teach women how to care for themselves," Nathan explained.

Nathan said that she's heard numerous times of women saying, "Medicine is keeping me alive, but the Healing Garden is keeping my soul alive."

That's something everyone can play for.