Keen Golf Tourney Proceeds Support Cancer Patients
By Space Coast Daily // September 29, 2012
PHILANTHROPY
BREVARD COUNTY • PALM BAY, FLORIDA – The first annual Toni Keen Memorial Fund Golf Tournament will be held Saturday, Sept. 29 at The Majors Golf Club at Bayside Lakes.
It was Toni Keen’s wish to build support for fellow cancer patients. After a four-year battle with metastatic breast cancer, Toni passed away in January at the age of 51. To honor and continue her work on behalf of cancer patients, her family established the Toni Keen Memorial Fund.
The first annual Toni Keen Memorial Fund Golf Tournament will be held Saturday at The Majors Golf Club at Bayside Lakes.
After an 8 a.m. shotgun start, the tournament will include lunch, games, door prizes, and raffles. There will also be a putting contest. To register, please email ToniKeenFund@yahoo.com.
GOLFERS AND SPONSORS NEEDED
Golfers, plus sponsors for this year and 2013, are needed. Proceeds will assist patients with medical expenses in their fight against cancer.
“We’d like to have 100 to 120 golfers, and we definately plan to make it an annual event,” said Jake Keen, Toni’s son and a board member for the organization. “We want to be able to help many people with cancer.”
Each year, the Memorial Fund will welcome Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsors for the golf tournament. Sponsors for the September 29th Tournament include MAB Oncology, Dr. Lisa Duhaime, Dr. Summet Chandra and The Majors Golf Club.
While fighting breast cancer and stenonis of the spine, Toni Keen worked tirelessly for “Chemo Buddies” in Melbourne. She and her friend Anna Rowell started the support group in 2010.
Keen and Rowell worked directly with cancer patients, lending moral support and letting them know where to go for additional help. Local oncologists Dr. Lisa Duhaime and Dr. Sumeet Chandra offered their offices for regular “Chemo Buddies” support meetings.
“We really want to help people in Brevard with the financial burden of co-payments and other expenses related to fighting cancer,” said Monte Keen, Toni’s husband and an officer of the Memorial Fund.
The Fund is a 501 (c) )(3) dedicated to helping patients pay for testing fees, prescriptions, and medical bills pertaining to cancer.
“Toni saw the need for volunteerism for cancer patients,” said Monte Keen. “We want to build upon the work she did with Chemo Buddies, and help financial ease financial burdens for those in need.”
Toni was passionate in helping other cancer patients.
“She would tell them where they could go to get help, and she’d talk to them in terms they could relate to,” said Monte Keen.
During her battle against cancer, Toni told her husband, “I’m living proof that things are not as catastrophic as they sometimes appear to be.”
FOR INFORMATION call 321-863-8048, email ToniKeenFund@yahoo.com or log on to the Toni Keen Memorial Fund page on Facebook.
Donations can be sent to the Toni Keen Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 121029, West Melbourne, Florida, 32912
