Chatham Basketball Tournament To Raise Funds For Pediatric Cancer

CHATHAM, NJ — A new event happening in Chatham to help fight childhood cancer is just one month away.

The Chatham Be Positive Club and the Chatham Basketball Club are teaming up to host the first-ever Chatham Be Positive 3×3 Basketball Tournament Fundraiser. All funds raised will go to the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation, which assists families of children with cancer.

The fundraiser will be held on Aug. 20, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Garden Park basketball courts, located at 480 Main St, next to Chatham Middle School.

All Chatham sixth through eighth-grade students are welcome to attend and participants can sign up as individuals or in groups of three. The registration fee is $10 per participant, or participants can send 10 emails to help spread awareness of the B+ Foundation's mission in lieu of a fee.

The Chatham Be Positive Club was founded in 2022 by Chatham High School sophomore, Mark Pasacreta.

“We wanted to give to a meaningful cause and create a fun event for the Chatham community,” Pasacreta said. “When I learned about the B+ Foundation, it struck me that Andrew McDonough could have been any of us. It’s our hope this will become a Chatham High School club and we can do more fundraising events and spread the message of B+.”

To register for the fundraiser, visit beposfdn.org.

The B+ Foundation is the nation's largest provider of financial assistance to families of children with cancer, assisting nearly 3,000 families this year. In addition, the B+ Foundation promotes childhood cancer research, lobbying for funding, and spreading the B+ message: "It's not a grade. It's an attitude."

The foundation was established in memory of Andrew McDonough, a 14-year-old athlete from Wilmington, Delaware. McDonough led his team to a state championship soccer tournament victory on Jan. 27, 2007, and within 48 hours he was in cardiac arrest.

McDonough was diagnosed with AML Leukemia and doctors didn't think he would make it through the night. He fought for 167 days before dying on July 14, 2007.

McDonough's B+ blood type became the perfect message to "Be Positive."