Club Kids For a Cause

CKFAC hosted its 11th tournament in February of 2025,

which raised around $5,000 allocated to the Jennifer

Mackey Scholl Fund for Allen Nurse Education, the

Child Life Fund for Blank Children’s Hospital, and

personal donations. The tournament was held at

Drake University and Lifetime Athletics in Des

Moines. 

In August 2024, CKFAC hosted its Summer Classic at Valley

High School, held in memory of Ankeny Centennial's Tami

Lewton, who battled Stage 4 Melanoma, and in support of

Mark Blume, who is fighting Stage 4 lung cancer, honoring

his dedication and commitment to tennis in Iowa. This was

the 10th tournament held, celebrating the 5th year of the organization!

In January 2024, CKFAC celebrated a milestone with its largest tournament to date, welcoming approximately 100 players from across 7 Midwestern states. The event took place predominantly at Drake University, with additional facilities at Genesis and Lifetime also utilized. At this tournament, the CKFAC Community Fund was established, offering individuals the opportunity to seek financial assistance directly from CKFAC through an online application.  

In August of 2023, the 6th annual Club Kids For a Cause

Junior Open was held outdoors at the Valley Tennis

Courts located in Des Moines. This tournament was held

in honor of Morgan Seashore, supporting her through her

fight with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We hosted a very successful tournament gaining support from players

within Iowa as well as out of state!

In January of 2023, Club Kids For a Cause held another winter junior tournament. For the first time, the tournament was hosted at Drake University! We added 4 new subcommittee members from the University of Iowa Club Tennis Team. This tournament was the most successful event we’ve hosted to date in terms of funds

raised!

In August of 2022, the 5th annual CKFAC Junior tennis tournament was held at Byrnes Park in Waterloo, IA. We were able to donate to the Mickey Thomas Memorial, the Jennifer Mackey Scholl's Scholarship Fund at Unity Point, and directly to individuals affected by cancer. Additionally, there was an adult social held in Des Moines, IA, where a clinic was held in addition to appetizers afterwards.

In January of 2022, the first adult mixed social and junior winter tournament at Black Hawk Tennis Club was held. In addition, Gary Scholl, the tournament director, flew all the way from Tucson, AZ because of his passion for the organization! At the adult social, there was food from Brown Bottle and at the junior tournament, there was coffee from Sidecar. In this tournament, we raised money for Above + Beyond Cancer, the University of Iowa Children's Hospital, and the Jennifer Mackey Scholl's Scholarship Fund at UnityPoint.

This year the tournament was at Byrnes Park Tennis Center in Waterloo. That year, CKFAC raised money for three different charities: the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, Above + Beyond Cancer, and the Jennifer Mackey Scholl's Scholarship Fund at UnityPoint. Jennifer was a respected nurse and the CKFAC tournament director, Gary's wife. In 2021, $8,000 was raised from player entry fees, the silent auction, and goodwill donations. Out of the 4 years, the amount raised was one of the highest yet!

Because of the graduation of Sid and Krisha, Mira and Sriya stepped up and followed in their siblings’ footsteps. In 2020, money was raised for three different charities which were the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Above + Beyond Cancer, and the Des Moines Disaster Recovery Fund. Additionally, there was a silent auction with items from businesses in Cedar Falls to help raise money. Following this tournament, Club Kids for a Cause officially became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

In 2019, Krisha found out that Steven Danna, a tennis player from Waukee, had been diagnosed with osteosarcoma, and she decided to help him through this extremely tough time. Krisha and Sid decided to organize another tournament that year to raise money and awareness around osteosarcoma. Along with the tournament, a successful silent auction consisting of donations from Cedar Falls businesses was run. All of the money raised went towards the Children's Cancer Connection, Pinky Swear Foundation, and Above + Beyond Cancer.

The Club Kids for a Cause tournaments began in 2018 and was inspired by a close member of the tennis family at the Black Hawk Tennis Club, Jean Hillsman, who had been the receptionist at the club for over 50 years. In 2018, when she was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, Sid Kalala thought creating a fundraiser in her name would be the right way to give back to her for all she had done for the tennis community. With his friend Krisha Keeran, they were able to create a fundraiser that raised money to move Jean to a nursing home and raise awareness for breast cancer in our community.