Sep. 3—CHATFIELD — One thing is for certain: Caleb Eide impacted a lot of people in his eight years of life. He’s remembered as a kind, thoughtful boy — someone who gave away his bingo prizes and made sure kids in the hospital had presents on Christmas.
Caleb died after a two-year battle with leukemia on July 29, 2016.
His mom, Crystal, decided the best way to honor Caleb was to help others. That idea resulted in the Caleb Eide Memorial Foundation, which raises money to support families going through difficult times and give to community needs.
The first golf tournament was hosted just a couple of months after Caleb died, coincidentally during September, childhood cancer awareness month.
On Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022, the foundation hosted its 7th Annual Caleb Eide Memorial Golf Tournament. Eide’s family has always been into golf, so Caleb naturally fell into the sport.
“Caleb was very much into golf,” Crystal said. “It’s one of the outlets we had when we were in and out of the hospital. Because he had such a low immune system, he couldn’t really be around to meet people. So this was one thing in the outdoors we could enjoy together , and he spent a lot of time on.”
Saturday kicked off with a child-adult tournament, where a child paired up with an adult and alternated games. A four-person best shot tournament began a few hours later, with over 100 golfers in attendance to play. More than 65 silent auction items were open for bidding too.
Altogether, Crystal said the event typically raises over $25,000, which is used to fulfill the foundation’s mission of supporting families who are experiencing hardships.
“We just want these other families to know that there are other people out there that really care and support them in some sort of way,” Crystal said. “And hope that they don’t feel so alone.”
The foundation also hosts a “birthday bash” bean bag tournament around Caleb’s birthday in the spring and awards scholarships to Chatfield and Lanesboro high school seniors. It all goes back to supporting the communities that have cared so much for Crystal and her family.
“People have been so supportive. The community’s been wonderful after all these years,” Crystal said, “and they keep supporting us and thinking of him and just backing what our mission is about.”