Golf tournament

BASF and TotalEnergies awarded more than $80,000 to three local charities as a result of the proceeds from the 21st annual BASF and TotalEnergies Miracle Match for Life golf tournament. The money was awarded on July 27 to charities that provide lifesaving health services for people in Southeast Texas  — Be The Match, the Julie Rogers’ “Gift of Life” Program and LifeShare Blood Center.

Miracle Match for Life was created in 2002 as a collaborative partnership between BASF and TotalEnergies to help educate and promote awareness of the need for bone marrow donors, blood donations and cancer screenings and prevention in Southeast Texas. During the last 21 years, Miracle Match for Life has raised more than $2 million.

Hundreds of golfers, BASF and TotalEnergies employees, volunteers and spectators gathered for a day of sports and community fellowship at Bayou Din Golf Club in Beaumont, Texas. BASF TotalEnergies Petrochemicals LLC and TotalEnergies Petrochemicals & Refining USA, Inc., both located in Port Arthur, are the title sponsors of the annual golf event. Area businesses donated food and beverages for the tournament.

"I’m so grateful to the businesses and golfers who continue to come out and support this incredible event that allows us to fund critical services in Southeast Texas," says John Lycan, vice president and site manager for the joint BASF TotalEnergies site. “Every year, through our continued partnership with TotalEnergies, we anticipate this rewarding experience of uniting our community to raise funds so beneficial to the area where we live and work.”

Miracle Match for Life places special emphasis on education and recruitment in African American, Native American and Hispanic communities, where donors and cancer screenings are especially needed.

“We are honored to have a 20-year partnership with BASF, sponsoring an event that has raised awareness of the medical needs of the underserved in our community,” says Arvin Paul, TotalEnergies Port Arthur vice president platform manager. “We live and work in Southeast Texas and take pride in being a good neighbor while ensuring the health of our community remains a priority.”

Be the Match has been able to recruit more than 350,000 donors from the Texas Gulf Coast Region and Louisiana and expanded vital cellular therapies for patients thanks to donations and public awareness generated each year by Miracle Match for Life.

“Thanks to the financial assistance from Miracle Match for Life, we made the impossible possible,” says Hope Guidry-Groves, senior director of Be The Match. “In our Gulf Coast region alone, we inspired more than 5,000 new members to join our Be The Match Registry! Even during the pandemic, we did not miss a single transplant. Thank you.”

Miracle Match for Life also has made it possible for thousands of Southeast Texas medically underserved women and men to receive mammograms and prostate cancer screenings through the Julie Rogers “Gift of Life” Program.

Breast cancer warrior and “Gift of Life” cheerleader Earnestine Anderson was relieved to learn that her breast cancer was caught early during a free mammogram from the “Gift of Life.”

“It was a miracle I was able to get a free mammogram that saved my life,” says Earnestine. “I believe I’m one of the lucky ones; I can’t thank you all enough.”

Miracle Match for Life also supports LifeShare Blood Center, which provides blood components to hospitals in eight Southeast Texas counties and requires approximately 30,000 donations annually.

"Miracle Match for Life helps us educate the community about the necessity for blood donations and donor recruitment," says Brooke Hulett, regional director of LifeShare Blood Centers. "At times, it is difficult to maintain the blood inventory needed to meet the demand of the hospitals we serve. Each day 100 blood donations are needed for area patients. Miracle Match for Life has been vital in promoting awareness of the need for donors.”