Tee time takes on a whole new meaning at this weekend’s debut of the Marcus J. Bradshaw (MJB) Foundation Golf Classic.
The event honors the memory of Marcus Bradshaw, a 2006 graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor High School. He passed away from natural causes in July 2015.
Tee time takes on a whole new meaning at this weekend’s debut of the Marcus J. Bradshaw (MJB) Foundation Golf Classic.
The event honors the memory of Marcus Bradshaw, a 2006 graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor High School. He passed away from natural causes in July 2015. The foundation was established to provide college scholarships to high school students throughout the Chicago area.
The MJB Golf Classic is open to the public and participants of all ages are welcome. It will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 15, at Glenwoodie Golf Club, 19301 South State Street in Glenwood. Interested persons can register for the event at Eventbrite.
“Marcus was not only amazing but he also loved to golf. And a really great way to honor his memory is with something that he enjoyed doing,” Crystal Phillips-Pierce said.
Phillips-Pierce, a longtime friend of Bradshaw’s, helped found the organization and works to implement proposals.
“His mother was very adamant that she wanted us to be able to give college scholarships to underserved high school graduating seniors in the Chicago area,” Phillips-Pierce said.
The foundation was officially established In January and since then has hit the ground running.
“Because we are so new, we were really hoping for around 30 applicants,” Phillips-Pierce said. “However, we ended up receiving over 60 applications, which was a very quick turnaround time.”
The scholarship is available to any graduating high school senior living in the Chicago area.
“As of today we plan on awarding four students a $2,500 scholarship,” Phillips-Pierce said. “There is no limit to what we can do. We reached our scholarship goal of four and we hope to be able to increase it in the future,” she said.
Phillips-Pierce contacted the Chronicle on Tuesday and updated the fundraising progress. She said the effort had raised $15,000 and would be able to award six scholarships.
Organizers of the event say it is designed to attract people who represent the same basic values as Marcus Bradshaw, and who are as vibrant and lively as he was.
“Marcus was a very magnetic person. He was the type of person who easily drew a crowd,” said Michael Escalante, a lifelong friend and an organizer of the foundation. “Whenever we went out, (people would approach) Marcus and he would have full blown conversations with them as I stood there awkwardly waiting for him to wrap up. Marcus was someone who really cared about what others were going through.”
Escalante says he knows that the organization honoring his friend is making a big difference, one scholarship at a time.
