About the Big Tree Invitational

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more information to come!

With 90s energy for our milestone 5th year, we welcomed two new families into the Big Tree Memorial Fund family at the 2025 Invitational charity golf tournament. 

When the Big Tree Memorial Fund began, our hope was simple: to help just one family each year who had lost a loved one to cancer. But in true Erik fashion, we’ve never settled for the minimum; we’ve pushed to do more, to reach further, and to make a greater impact. Because of this incredible community, in just 5 years, we have raised and donated over $200,000! This year, thanks to this fundraising event, your donations, and the grants we’ve secured, we will surpass $250,000! That’s a quarter of a million dollars in Erik’s honor, helping families find hope and strength when they need it most. 

This year, we are proud to support two incredible families who have each experienced the devastating loss of a parent to cancer. 

Our first family is the Acheampongs, honoring Melanie, who passed away in June at just 38 years young after a brave fight with Triple Negative Breast Cancer. She was a devoted wife to Yaw and mother to her 3 beautiful children, 8-year-old Cameron, 6-year-old Quentin, and 2-year-old Mya. 

Our second family is the Hoffmans, honoring Sean, who passed away in February at age 40 after a long battle with Glioblastoma. He leaves behind his wife Shannon and 3 stepchildren John (17), Aidan (15), and Olivia (7), along with family and friends who loved him dearly. His family even asked that people plant trees in his honor – a lasting and beautiful reflection of his life that feels especially meaningful for the Big Tree Memorial Fund.

We were thrilled to welcome three new families into the Big Tree Memorial Fund (BTMF) family at the charity golf tournament Invitational. With May's addition of Adela, this makes 2024 our biggest year yet.

Jyes Grier and her family faced the heartbreaking loss of her husband, Lenard, on May 15, 2024, after a 3.5-year battle with stage 4 colon cancer. Lenard, 43, is survived by his wife and their three children: Liam (12), Alex (10), and Luna (6). After his 2020 diagnosis, Lenard founded No One Clothiers, a clothing brand centered on self-expression, heritage, and inclusivity. Despite his illness, Lenard maintained a full-time work schedule and collaborated with BTMF, even designing merchandise for our fundraising events. Remarkably, on the day he learned his cancer was terminal, Lenard remained positive, focusing on helping others. His impact lives on, and he remains an integral part of the Big Tree Family.

The Rinehart family endured the tragic loss of Kevin Rhinehart's wife, Sarah, who passed away on February 23, 2024, after a nearly 4-year battle with melanoma. Sarah was 38 years old and is survived by Kevin and their two children, Cannon (6) and Ripley (3). Initially diagnosed in 2020 with a less concerning prognosis, Sarah’s cancer metastasized by 2023, eventually leading to a terminal stage 4 diagnosis.

BTMF also welcomed 2.5-year-old Gael Velazquez Pereira, who has been courageously battling multiple types of brain cancer—Medulloblastoma, ATRT, and Brainstem Glioma—since his diagnosis in August 2023. Thanks to a grant from Frederick County, aimed at providing financial support for children undergoing cancer treatment, we were able to give funds to Gael's family through our fundraising initiatives. Despite undergoing chemotherapy, radiation, and emergency surgeries at such a young age, Gael remains cheerful and active.

We're so proud to once again support two families through the Big Tree Memorial Fund in 2023, which was made possible by our recent charity golf tournament fundraising event. 

The first family to receive $15,000 was the Knox Family from Frederick, Maryland. The funds were granted to wife Jennifer and daughter Izzy in honor of Scott, who passed away from cancer in July 2023.

The second family to benefit from this year's donations was the Gevaudan Family from Federalsburg, Maryland. Elliott and daughter Addison received $15,000 in memory of wife and mother Hannah, who lost her battle with breast cancer in August 2023.