Cameryn's Cause in the news

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Christine Panchyshyn of the Kinsmen slo-pitch team has the ball slip from her glove during ball action at Willow Point Park during the Cameryn’s Cause For Kids Slo-pitch tournament.

Campbell River Mirror

Cameryn’s Cause tournament brings in big bucks for families

By Pieter Uni - Campbell River Mirror

Published: August 07, 2008 5:00 PM

Twenty-three slo-pitch teams hit, pitched and enjoyed some frosty beverages, all in hopes of raising funds for a good cause.

Over the long weekend, teams competed in the Cameryn’s Cause For Kids Society Slo-pitch Tournament, an annual sporting event dedicated in honour of Cameryn Harris.

“The society was started by Mason and I in memory of our daughter Cameryn, who passed away when she was three-years-old from a brain tumour,” said Shayleen Harris.

“The ball community was very supportive of our family when our daughter was ill. We wanted to give back to the community and so we started the society.”

The Cameryn’s Cause For Kids Society helps families cope with financial worries during a child’s health crisis and provides information and suggestions for alternative avenues for families to access other means of financial and emotional assistance.

“We help families in Campbell River who have a child that is seriously ill,” explained Harris.

“We help with expenses, be it bills or funeral costs, we pay for it.”

Money raised from the event, nearly $13,000 according to Harris, goes directly to help assist families in need.

And while the event benefitted a great cause, there were ball games to play.

In the A division, the Dodgers captured the title, the Upchucks won the B division, while the Wanna B’s won the C division.

Besides great games of ball, the tournament also offered up some fun for the entire family, with a beer garden offering beverages for the more mature players, while a concession, with all materials donated by Quality Foods, and a Kidz Connection Fair, gave kids accompanying their parents a chance to play.

Harris said incorporating family activities was vital to the success of the tournament.

“Because we are a charity for children, we want to attract the whole family,” said Harris. “Cameryn was a ball baby, so we wanted to appeal to all levels, to make sure there was something for the whole family.”

According to Harris, the tournament was a huge success, and she said she hopes the event will raise the awareness of the society.

“It is frustrating when people have a child that is sick and they need the money and they don’t know how to get in touch with us,” she said.

“We have helped nine families and we hope to help more.”

For those looking for assistance, Harris recommends all to visit the society’s website, www.camerynscause.com, or phone Shayleen Harris at 250-203-0115 for more information.

Rival teams come together for Cameryn’s Cause

Terry Farrell/The Mirror

Umpire Bob Walker sees through a cloud of dust to make the call, as Seymour Services base runner TJ Skalik slides safely into second under the tag of Sinners shortstop Eddy Kunderman during the A Division final.

By Terry Farrell
Sports Editor
May 16 2007

Fifteen teams put league rivalries aside to come together for a good cause over the weekend – Cameryn’s Cause.

The second annual Cameryn’s Cause For Kids Society Slo-Pitch Tournament ran Friday through Sunday at the Willow Point ball diamonds, with all money raised going towards the local society, created in honour of Cameryn Harris.

“Cameryn was three years old when she passed away, November of 2003. She died of a brain tumour,” explained her father, Mason Harris. “We (Mason and Cameryn’s mother, Shayleen Harris) were helped out so much by the Campbell River community, and in particular the ball community, that what we decided to do was to set up a society to help families with sick children. We help out with finances for parents who, for instance, have to go to Vancouver to stay with their kids as they go through medical treatments. Whatever families need, that’s what the society is all about.”

The event raised just shy of $6,750 this year, with Quality Foods responsible for a good portion of that total. Quality Foods donated all the supplies for the concession, which raised $2,000.

Of course, it wasn’t all about the fund raising. There was some ball played as well. And when it was all said and done, the Sinners emerged as the overall champions.

They’ve been talking the talk all winter on the Campbell River Mixed Slo Pitch Smack Talk Forum. Last weekend they let their bats do the talking, running the table in the A Division, beating Seymour Services 10-7 in the championship game.

As the only remaining undefeated team in the Tuesday Night League, the most competitive of the five Campbell River Mixed Slo Pitch leagues, the Sinners had something to prove in the first tournament of the season. They proved it.

They mercied all three teams they played in round robin action, beating the Chargers, 10-0, the Flushers, 24-11 and the Silver Bullets, 14-2, to enter the A playoffs as the top seed.

The mercy trend continued in the first round of the playoffs as the Sinners shut out Dynamic Plastics, 13-0.

They had a rematch against the Chargers in the semis and although it was closer, the Sinners still prevailed, 11-6, to earn their berth in the championship match.

Seymour Services had a more challenging route to the championship match.

They finished 2-1 in the round robin, with wins over Dynamic Plastics and the Dream Team sandwiching a 7-3 loss to the Black Sox.

They eked out a 7-6 victory over the Silver Bullets in the quarter-finals, then avenged their round robin loss in the semis, beating the Black Sox 12-6.

There looked to be an upset in the making in the A final – for half an inning, anyway.

Rosy Doak hit an RBI triple and Julie Brown followed with an RBI single to give Seymour Services a 2-0 lead heading into the bottom of the first.

That lead vanished quickly.

The first three Sinners batters reached base and Kim Doney got the team on the board with an RBI single. Darren Scott stepped up next and hammered a shot to right field for a grand slam and a 5-2 lead that the Sinners never relinquished.

TJ Skalik had an RBI double in the third and Brian McQuarrie brought in another in the fourth to get Seymour within a run, before they were burned by an ex-teammate.

Former Seymour player Derek Kowbel led off the bottom of the fourth with a towering home run down the right field line, giving the Sinners a 6-4 lead.

The Sinners scored another three in the bottom of the fifth and after Seymour got one back in the top of the sixth they were victimized by the long ball once more.

Tanner Paul led off the bottom half of the inning with a shot to right-centre, giving the Sinners a 10-5 lead.

Seymour Services had a promising rally going in the top of the seventh. Skalik hit a bases loaded double to score two, bringing Barb Hanna to the plate with two out and two on.

Hanna hit a line drive down the third base line, but was robbed by Sinners third baseman Jackie Irving’s quick glove. Her cat-like reaction catch ended the rally and the game.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the beer gardens, the two 2006 champions were squaring off to determine the B Division crown.

The Willows Classics made a strong argument for being moved up to A next year, successfully defending their B crown with an 8-6 victory over the BC Crew, who won the A division last year.

The Classics mercied both the Rage and the Bench Warmers in B Division round robin action, sandwiching a six-run victory over the Okee Dokees.

Their 3-0 record gave the Classics the number-one seed going into the playoffs, and a bye into the semifinals, where they met the Okee Dokees again.

They earned their berth into the finals with an 8-3 victory over the Dokees.

The Crew, meanwhile, must have felt like they were in an episode of that Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day over the weekend. They kept facing the same opponents, over and over again.

They split a two-game series with the Sharks in round robin action and beat the Boneyard Haunters in their third pool game.

The Crew ended the Boneyard Haunters’ tournament in the quarter-finals, with a 12-9 victory, then played the Sharks for a third time in the semis. The Crew won the ‘tie-breaker’, 14-7, to get to the finals.

By the time of the B Division final, things looked bleak for the Crew. Not only had they played one more game than the Classics, a look at the two dugouts told the story.

Whereas the Classics looked fresh and ready to go, the Crew had more ice on the bench than there was in the beer gardens, with nearly every player nursing some sort of injury.

Considering their injuries, the Crew did well to keep the game close. Willows won, 8-6.

The Classics scored once in both the first and second and threatened to blow the game wide open in the top of the third. They added three more to make it a 5-0 game before the Crew rallied with three in the bottom of the third and another in the fourth to make it a one-run game.

Willows scored two in the sixth and added another in the seventh for an 8-4 lead and although the Crew scored two in the bottom of the inning, the rally fell short.

The tournament itself raised $5,492.14 and the ultimate total was boosted by a couple of very generous individual donations. Family and friends of Bob Dooris handed over a checque for $1,000 and Storey Creek Log Trading Ltd. donated $250 to the cause, making the gand total $6,742.14.

Quality Foods also showed their support for the future of the tournament, as they have jumped on board as the official corporate sponsor of the event, starting in 2008.

Above article - April 25th 2007, Courier Islander, Campbell River.

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February 9th article in local newspaper about Cameryn's Cause:

http://www.canada.com/vancouverisland/courierislander/story.html?id=1d03fe40-9fa5-46a0-a07c-d0f623f78c3f

New society aims to help families during times of crisis

Denise Sharkey, Courier-Islander
Published: Friday, February 09, 2007

A new society in Campbell River aims to honour the memory of a special little girl and help families when a medical crisis strikes a child.

Cameryn's Cause for Kids Society was established to maintain a non-profit fund in the Campbell River area to provide emergency financial aid to parents and guardians of children facing life threatening illness or injury or in the event of a child's death.

"We want to harness the generous spirit of the people of Campbell River," said founder Shayleen Harris.

The Harris family lost their three-year-old daughter Cameryn in November, 2003.

Cameryn was diagnosed with a brain tumour in June, 2002. Many people in the community will remember Cameryn's beaming face as she led off the first ever Relay for Life in June, 2003 when she was just two-and-a-half years old. She and her older sister Brooke drove a child's car around the track to start off the incredibly popular relay.

Shayleen Harris said the family was in Vancouver at B.C. Children's Hospital for months during Cameryn's battle against cancer, and they were amazed at how much support they received from the community of Campbell River.

"We felt very supported by our friends and the community and we want to make sure that families of children who are going through this get that kind of support too," Harris said.

The new society will provide funding for services like transportation, housekeeping, accommodation, meals, respite and more. Harris added that the society is willing to help families in all socio-economic groups in the community.

"Most people don't have a bank account set aside for when their child gets sick," she said.

Costs can quickly add up for families dealing with a seriously ill child, she said. For example, the Harris family faced parking costs at B.C. Children's Hospital of $400 per month. Accommodation at 'Heather House' near the hospital cost $40 a night.

"Meals, gas, it all adds up," she said. "And you have to come up with the money right away. You might be able to get the costs back later, but you have to come up with the money right away."

To raise funds for the society, the 'Cameryn's Cause for Kids' Slo-Pitch Tournament is being planned for early May. And, partial proceeds from the Bradley Robinson Memorial Slo-Pitch Tournament, which takes place annually in August, are also slated for the society. Last October, the 'Barnes Boneyard Haunt' a spooky fun Halloween event on Holm Road in Campbell River raised $1,000 for the cause in one night.

Harris said it's taken two years to get the society incorporated and up and running. The society is run by a board of six, including Cameryn's parents. They have also created a binder of resource information that will be provided to every doctor's office in town. Nurse Tracy Shelrud and an assistant created the binder.

For more information about Cameryn's Cause for Kids, call 287-2279 or email shayleen_harris@hotmail.com
© Courier-Islander (Campbell River) 2007

Cameryn and Brooke at the Relay for Life

All images and graphics are property of the Cameryn's Cause for Kids Society 2007