The Suwannee River Breast Cancer Awareness Association has only been around since 2011. You might say the non-profit charity organization is still young, but they have raised over $60,000.00 towards helping local families in need since their inception.
“Our mission is to help local families affected by cancer through one of the toughest challenges they will face,” said SRBCAA Board President Donnie Feagle. The organization aims at helping families in need who live within the counties that boarder the Suwannee River.
Battling the disease can lead to a huge financial burden on families. Medical expenses add up quickly, and other bills tend to become second thought. “We don’t pay for doctors bills, and we don’t give the families any money directly,” stated Feagle. “We help cover some of the everyday bills like mortgage and auto payments,” to name a few.
One of the ways the Association raises funds is through their annual bass tournament. April 11th marked the 5th year of the event, and it has continued to grow in size each year. To accommodate a larger field of anglers, the event was held at Ellie Rays RV and Boat Ramp. 86 teams of anglers launched from the park that rests along the shores of the Santa Fe River, a part of the Suwannee River system, all gunning for the $3,000.00 first place prize.
Walter Starling and Tyler Musgrove made their catch pay off in a big way. The 14.12-pound bag they brought to the scales was more than enough to seal the victory. Helping to set that total was the event’s Big Bass, an 8.44-pound Trophy Catch lunker. Puggy and Chase Day locked in a second place finish, weighing an 11.41-pound bag. Third place was awarded to Junior Dice and Michael Wiles, as they weighed an even 11.00 pounds. Eddie Hines and Jimmy Downing weighed a 10.74-pound bag to secure the fourth spot in the standings.
A Top 4 finish had a little extra meaning for this tournament. Feagle registered the event with the Florida State Team Championship, giving the Top 4 teams the opportunity to compete for a new Blazer 595 Pro Elite powered by a 200 HP outboard. These four teams are the first to qualify for the FSTC, where they will compete with anglers from across the state for the title. (More information of the FSTC can be found here.)
Here’s how the rest of the Top 10 finished:
5th: Mark Little & Robert Cooper-10.65 pounds
6th: David Delgado & Mark Feagle- 10.02 pounds
7th: Kimrod Stephenson & Chambler Orr- 9.73 pounds
8th: Matt Cummings & Chris Starling- 9.61 pounds
9th: Donnie Feagle & Josh Lester- 9.51 pounds
10th: Mike Boyette & Ben Broughton- 9.24 pounds
“I can’t thank our sponsors, the anglers, volunteers, Ellie Rays, the entire community–everyone who was apart of this event, enough,” expressed Feagle.
The 5th annual event raised over $23,000.00 to help benefit families in need. A big part of that was attributed to the raffle, where attendees had a chance at great prizes donated to the tournament, including five Yeti coolers.
If you would like more information on the Suwannee River Breast Cancer Awareness Association, or to make a donation to their cause, visit suwanneeawareness.com.
