One Act of Kindness – 2014
Founded in 2016, just 2 years after the devastating loss of his wife, Lisa Pitts Eley, Chuck Eley decided to pay forward an act of kindness that showed just what one family and a community can do. In December of 2014, after Lisa lost her battle with lung cancer, the parents of one of the football players Chuck trained, John and Regina Bowen, pulled together a group of friends that showed up in a bus at the Eley home right before Christmas with more gifts than Chuck had ever seen. After that amazing act of kindness to his family, Chuck decided to pay it forward to others struggling with the same daily needs he and his daughters experienced and in 2016 the Lisa Pitts Eley Cancer Foundation was started.
I knew that I had to do something to help bring me out of the dark and pay forward what help my family had received. I originally was going to only do one family I never dreamed it would grow and become what it has to this day.
The Lisa Pitts Eley Cancer Foundation first got its start to help at least one family and it has grown to so much more. The Foundation provides food, money for bills, help with housing costs, transportation costs, and gifts during the holidays for patients of cancer and their families. What started as one family’s act of kindness has turned into a husband/father’s driving force to give to others in need as he and his family were. www.fredericksburg.com/news/local/spotsy-man-is-helping-families-of-cancer-patients-in-honor/article_b5553f0e-4741-51f1-88a8-9499bb6bcdae.htm
One of the ways Chuck raises funds is through special appearances all over Fredericksburg as the world’s largest leprechaun or elf, St. Valentine and during holidays he also has the help of great friends. Donations are accepted all year from individuals and corporations. You can usually find Chuck at Irish Eyes in downtown Fredericksburg or check out the Facebook page. He also runs a food pantry for the families so they do not have to worry about whether to pay the electric, feed the family, or buy medication. To make a donation, please click here or you can mail a check to Lisa Pitts Eley Cancer Foundation, 12035 North Dickinson Drive, Fredericksburg, VA 22407. All gifts are tax deductible.
