SUMMIT, NJ — May 3, 2021. In honor of May, Lupus Awareness Month, former Super Bowl Champion and Barstool Sports radio personality Willie Colon, hosted the annual Willie Colon Golf Outing for the Lupus Research Alliance (LRA). Dedicated to advancing lupus research, Mr. Colon is a member of the Lupus Research Alliance Board of Directors.
In keeping with LRA’s new campaign, Lift Up Lupus, Mr. Colon teed up a cadre of sports super-stars and over 250 golfers to take a swing at this rough disease. MVPs who attended include: World Series Champion, 6x MLB All-Star and 2007 Cy Young Award Winner CC Sabathia; basketball champions Scott Burrell and John Starks. Football colleagues David Harris, Nick Mangold and Matt Simms, as well as NBA and Boxing Analyst Brian Custer, were among the players.
Held at the New Jersey’s Canoe Brook Country Club, the Outing benefitted the Jean Davis Research Grant in loving memory of his late mother Jean Davis.
“When my mom was first diagnosed with lupus, it was a disease very much in the dark and no one knew much about it,” noted Colon. “My mom never put her illness, no matter what she was suffering, above our development as rough and tumble kids. I cannot think of a better way to honor her memory than to make possible the caliber of research that will afford future generations lives without lupus.”
The sold-out event raised nearly $300,000. Since its inception in 2014, the Willie Colon Golf Outing has raised $1.5 million for the Lupus Research Alliance which invests every dollar in enabling the world’s top scientists to pursue innovative research studies.
Watch this video to hear Mr. Colon share his memories of his mom and her struggle with lupus.
About Lupus
Lupus is a chronic, complex autoimmune disease that affects millions of people worldwide. More than 90 percent of people with lupus are women; lupus most often strikes during the childbearing years of 15-45. African Americans, Latinx, Asians and Native Americans are two to three times at greater risk than Caucasians. In lupus, the immune system, which is designed to protect against infection, creates antibodies that can attack any part of the body including the kidneys, brain, heart, lungs, blood, skin, and joints.
About the Lupus Research Alliance
The Lupus Research Alliance is the largest non-governmental, non-profit funder of lupus research worldwide. The organization aims to transform treatment by funding the most innovative lupus research, fostering diverse scientific talent, and driving discovery toward better diagnostics, improved treatments and ultimately a cure for lupus. Because the Lupus Research Alliance’s Board of Directors funds all administrative and fundraising costs, 100% of all donations goes to support lupus research programs.
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