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1
Friday, May 14 2021 / Published in Sidelines Feature

Polo for Life: Helping Families Facing Pediatric Cancer

By Britney Grover

Pediatric cancer: Anyone would wish it didn’t exist. Some would like to ignore that it does. Even after surviving it, Brandon Phillips tried to forget about it. “It was 1992 when I was sick, and for many years I never wanted to speak about it,” he said. “I never wanted to do anything; I just put it out of my mind and wanted to forget about it like it didn’t happen.”

When Brandon was 14, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Doctors told his parents — who did not tell him — that Brandon had six weeks to live. Brandon defied the prognoses and went into remission after five intensive months of treatment. He was happy to return to life as a normal teenager, with a renewed appreciation for the passions he enjoyed — including polo. At just 17, two years after beating cancer, Brandon launched a successful career as a professional polo player.

“Finally, when I got into my 30s, I decided it was time to give back and to start helping families experiencing pediatric cancer,” he said. The organization began with a polo benefit game to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Their first one-day event, dubbed Polo for a Purpose, raised $40,000. “We thought we did a great job. Then each year it got bigger and bigger, leading up to last year, our most successful year ever — we raised $540,000 that day.”

Helping families dealing with pediatric cancer is much more than one day a year for Brandon. The annual event spurred the creation of its own foundation, Polo for Life, and has raised over $1.8 million to help those affected by childhood cancer. Brandon’s goal is to be five times that amount — and much of the money raised is now going directly to local families in the Wellington, Florida, area.

Help Where it’s Needed

For the first five years, Polo for a Purpose benefited the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Though he knew the money was being put to good use, Brandon was driven to do more and work with other charities. That would also give him the opportunity to have more control over exactly what the money he helped raise was being used for.

Two years ago, he created his own 501(c)(3) charity and named it Polo for Life. The expanded beneficiaries list now includes Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, the Miami Cancer Institute, POST — Pediatric Oncology Support Team, and the Kids Cancer Foundation. From the 2020 event, each group received a check for $90,000. Polo for Life has a good relationship with each one, and is able to specify what programs the money will go toward.

As a foundation, Polo for Life is unique. “Thankfully, one of our main sponsors is Postage Stamp Farm Foundation,” Brandon said. “Their annual donation enables us to cover any type of administration costs of running the foundation, so every dollar people donate is going directly to the kids.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, things have changed for Polo for Life — in how they’re raising money, and in how that money is being funneled to kids and families affected by pediatric cancer even more directly than ever before. “Fortunately, when I was sick there wasn’t a financial bind for us due to the Canadian healthcare system,” Brandon shared. “But I know what the kids feel, I know what the parents feel, I know how families react — when a child gets cancer it’s not just the child. It’s the siblings, it’s the mother, it’s the father, it’s the uncles and the aunts; the whole family is affected by it.”

In a situation relatively few people can understand — Brandon is one of them that does. “I know firsthand the fear and uncertainty day to day of what’s going on,” he said. “I’ve had lots of talks and met with these kids and these families, and I can relate. The last thing they need to worry about, on top of all of this, is how they’re going to pay a car payment, or a mortgage payment. These are the things we try to ease for the family so they can concentrate on supporting their child and their family.”

To that end, Brandon and Polo for Life have turned to helping specific, local families. Families in financial crisis reach out through POST or the Kids Cancer Foundation, and Polo for Life steps in to help. “Generally, when your child is diagnosed, one parent has to stop working to look after the child, and now with COVID, a lot of times both parents have lost their jobs,” Brandon said. “There were local families that didn’t even have the money to buy gas to drive their kids to treatments or they’d lost their car because they couldn’t make car payments. We started to develop this program to help alleviate the financial challenges of families.”

Becoming a Resource

When a family’s rent, mortgage, car payments, electrical bills, insurance bills or whatever need to be paid, Polo for Life assesses the situation and often provides financial assistance for three months at a time, paid directly to creditors. After three months, they revisit the family and reassess their needs. Sadly, that has also included underwriting several funerals. “That was horrible, but many of these people come to us and can’t even afford to bury their child,” Brandon said. “We step in and at least try to help in that way. We’re helping with everything across the board for these local families.”

Normally, Polo for a Purpose is held each January on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The 2021 event was cancelled due to the pandemic, yet Polo for Life hasn’t stopped helping — or raising money. In December, they put on a benefit country concert and raised nearly $16,000. They’ve been hosting private dinners to educate people about how they can help families in need.

“It’s just amazing the number of local problems we don’t even know about,” Brandon said. “We’re sitting in our bubble in Wellington, and we’re mad because our horse didn’t show well today or we lost a polo game. And there are families 10 minutes away that are having their power turned off and their kids are dying of cancer and they can’t afford to get treatment. So many fortunate people are not touched by pediatric cancer, so our mission is to educate them about the vast number of families in our backyard that are really struggling.”

In addition to expanding financial support, Brandon’s goal is for Polo for Life to be the go-to resource for families going through the trial of pediatric cancer, from financial assistance to information on where to go or what doctors could best help them. Someday, Brandon would love to help fund a treatment bus similar to mobile blood banks, that would save families from driving three or four hours each way just to get cancer treatment for their child.

In the meantime, Polo for Life is living up to its name. Powered by a very strong board of directors, Polo for Life is constantly raising money to ease the financial burden of families in crisis fighting pediatric cancer. Board members PJ Rizvi, Rita Reik and Visse Wedell join Brandon in their determination to make a difference — to raise enough capital so parents can focus on what’s more important than money: saving their child’s life.

“That’s exactly it; that’s why I started this,” Brandon said. “We can take some of the heat off of these families. It’s amazing how many people just didn’t realize that there’s someone 10 minutes away who can’t afford their electric bill, but when they do, it really resonates with them. Now it’s just getting the word out, and getting the donations to help however we can.” 

For more information, visit poloforlife.org

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Tagged under: charity polo, Polo for Life

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Discover TerraNova’s peaceful showgrounds and luxury facilities for a world-class competition experience. TerraNova Dressage II is managed by Thomas Baur and Monica Fitzgerald and has quickly become a favorite venue amongst dressage competitors. 
National Judges:
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View full prize list: https://www.terranovaequestrian.com/terranova-dressage-ii-cdi4 Enter CDI: https://equestrian-hub.com/public/show/165165 Enter USEF: https://equestrian-hub.com/public/show/184795 Closing date: October 12th – enter now!

#showterranova
HELLO OCTOBER!!! Kicking off the month with Intern HELLO OCTOBER!!! Kicking off the month with International-level dressage rider Amelia Newcomb. Who is committed to making dressage accessible to anyone who wants to learn and improve in the sport. With a mantra of “Dressage for All,” Amelia, her husband, Germán Schneider, and the rest of her team at Amelia Newcomb Dressage believe that anyone and everyone can learn to love their ride. 
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and get results, regardless of age, discipline or location.“My goal is to make good dressage training accessible to everyone who is interested in learning. One way I do that is by producing quality videos to educate and encourage dressage students along their dressage journey,” Amelia said. “The transformations that my students get are insane and my business is changing the entire sport of dressage and the way people learn to ride.”
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associated with trying to make your way in the sport without abundant educational resources. “I grew up in Colorado, where there weren’t that many dressage resources available. I was so hungry for knowledge, I would go to big shows just to watch the big-named trainers work,” Amelia said. “That’s why, when given the opportunity to share what I’ve learned along the way, I decided to go for it and start my YouTube channel.” 
➡️Catch the full story at the link in our bio!! 
⬇️For more information, visit amelianewcombdressage.com and on Instagram 
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The WPCSA will again be streaming footage live from the ring at the American National Show next week. You will need two free passes to get to the feed this year.

1️⃣�The first is a USEF fan membership which you can get through this site:
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