The six members of a Carroll family are all big fans of basketball and love March Madness, but Ron, Tasha, Parker, Mallory, Sophie and Brock Badding have an even bigger reason to celebrate this time of year as they raise funds to support an organization that saved their daughter and sister’s life. In the summer of 2006, Sophie was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at only two years old. After completing her initial treatments, the family decided to merge their love for Sophie and their love of the sport as a way to help in the fight against childhood cancers. “Brackets for Sophie” was born and this year marks the 10th anniversary of the Badding fundraiser. Sophie’s mother, Tasha, says they started out small in the beginning.
Over the years, the annual fundraiser has grown to have more than 400 brackets submitted on their dedicated website. Sophie is now 12 years old and Tasha says she is doing very well and reaping the benefits of the research that CureSearch for Children’s Cancer provides.
And even though the bracket entry closed with tip off of the first game on Thursday, Tasha says they will still take donations for those who want to give.
The Baddings are all big Iowa State University (ISU) supporters, and enjoy filling out their own brackets. Sophie, however, Tasha says, is like a lot of other kids who bases her choices on the mascot or the color of the team. And even though she has Iowa State going into the Elite Eight, she ended up choosing Gonzaga University to win it all. Details about how to place a donation to “Brackets for Sophie” by mail or directly to her fundraising page at CureSearch Children’s Cancer can be found below. A link for more information about CureSearch Children’s Cancer research is also included.
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Mail donations to the Baddings:
Make donations payable to: Brackets for Sophie
C/O Ron and Tasha Badding
2718 Forest Street
Carroll, IA 51401
Online donations can be made by following this link:
Sophie’s CureSearch for Children’s Cancer Fundraising Page
More information about CureSearch’s research can be found by following the link below:
CureSearch for Children’s Cancer website
