About the Big Tree Invitational

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With 90s energy for our milestone 5th year, we welcomed two new families into the BTMF family at the 2025 Invitational.

When the Big Tree Memorial Fund began, our hope was simple: 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! And this year, thanks to this invitational, 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 Mom 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 able to welcome three new families into the BTMF family at the Invitational. Joining the family from May (Adela), this makes 2024 our biggest year yet.

Jyes Grier and her family tragically lost 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 rooted in self-expression, heritage, and inclusivity. Despite his illness, Lenard continued working full-time and collaborated with BTMF, even designing and selling merchandise for us. Remarkably, on the day he learned his cancer was terminal, Lenard stayed positive, focusing on helping others. His impact lives on, and he remains an integral part of the Big Tree Family.

The Rinehart family experienced the heartbreaking 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, leading to a terminal stage 4 diagnosis. 

BTMF welcomed 2.5-year-old Gael Velazquez Pereira, who is 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 gift funds to Gael's family. Despite undergoing chemotherapy, radiation, and emergency surgeries at such a young age, Gael remains cheerful and active.

We're so proud to be able to, once again, support two families in 2023.

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

The second family to receive $15,000 this year was the Gevaudan Family from Federalsburg, Maryland. Elliott and daughter, Addison, received the funds in honor of wife and mother Hannah who passed in August 2023 from breast cancer.

THANK YOU to everyone who made our second Big Tree Invitational a milestone success. 

We smashed our number from last year and raised almost $10,000 in a single day from donations, raffle prizes, golf side games, and more! Plus, we did it without a single raindrop — quite the difference from last year.

During 2022, we were fortunate to raise enough money to support TWO families. This is huge for us to have accomplished in only our second year and we know Erik would be proud as we’re making the difference we originally set out to do.

The first family we gave $15,000 to was the Snesrud Family from Point of Rocks, Maryland. The funds are given in honor of Erik(husband) who passed in February 2020. While the family was unable to attend the reception, we were able to honor them via their family friend Kathy Ong.

The second family that received $15,000 from the Big Tree Memorial Fund was Marshall Family from Bowie, Maryland. Eric passed in January 2021 from colon cancer. His wife, Raven, was joined by her two children, Ayden and Aubrey, at the Big Tree Invitational reception and gave us all a few smiles despite the very emotional occasion.

With the funds comes becoming a part of the Big Tree family. It's better together.