Every athlete, whether at the high school, collegiate, or professional level, dreams of playing in a packed stadium or gym. Fans cheering, whistles blowing, and coaches yelling to be heard over the crowd— many athletes will say there is no greater atmosphere to play in. However, the impact of sports often goes beyond just affecting the athletes on the court. Many teams around the state hold fundraisers and nights in honor of battling various diseases, and this year the Walpole Boys Basketball team decided to dedicate one of their home games to benefitting patients battling brain tumors.
On Tuesday, February 4, the Rebels had their biggest crowd of the year on a night dedicated to raising money for the Tommy Quinn Brain Tumor Foundation. Last fall, Walpole High freshman Tommy Quinn passed away after battling a brain tumor since elementary school. For arguably their biggest game of the regular season, the team partnered with the A Shot for Life Foundation to raise money for the Tommy Quinn Foundation and to remember their classmate.
Head Coach David St. Martin originally got the idea when he saw another school host a fundraiser during one of their games that was sponsored by ASFL. He said, “The freshman class wanted to do something special and I know the founder of ASFL, which raises money for brain tumor research, so when I told him about Tommy’s foundation, he said we could have the proceeds go to it.” The Rebels held a 50/50 raffle, sold 200 t-shirts donning the expression “TQ Strong,” had a donation jar, and gave all proceeds from the night’s snack bar to the fundraiser in order to benefit the foundation. Jimmy’s Pizza in Walpole donated the pizza to be sold at the snack bar, and many parents of the Boys Basketball players baked goods to be sold.
By the end of the night, the team had raised a total of $5,000 from shirts and the raffle. Salus Capital matched the team’s earnings with a $5,000 donation. In addition, Danny Ainge, President of the Boston Celtics, attended the game and donated $5,000 on behalf of the Boston Shamrock Foundation to bring the total earnings of the fundraiser to $15,000.
Freshman James Randall said, “I never expected that we would raise that much money and I loved the intensity of everyone supporting my best friend Tommy—the night was a huge success because of him.”
In a packed gymnasium, the Rebels took on Wellesley, a team they had been tied with for first place in the Bay State Herget, and lost 69-56. Despite the loss, St. Martin said, “I am so proud of our students and community. We are a very tight community and it showed the other night. I have waited seven years for an atmosphere like that.”
In the future, St. Martin and the Boys Basketball team hope to continue the tradition by holding a fundraiser each year in order to help in the fight against brain tumors and to carry on Tommy’s memory.
