A message from Tom Keilty

admin — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:40:43 +0000

I am proud to invite you to the fourth annual Tee It Up for Cathi Keilty charity golf tournament and dinner, to be held Monday, October 10, at Hunt Valley Golf Club. The net proceeds from the event will fund research at the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center for new treatment options and a cure for scleroderma. The event is named for my wife Cathi, who passed away after battling an aggressive form of scleroderma. Cathi gave so much of herself to help others, and we’re continuing that mission in her memory.

Scleroderma is a relatively unknown disease that hardens body tissue, which in severe cases can cause organ failure. It affects approximately 300,000 people in the U.S. At the moment, there is no cure for this disease, but encouraging research is underway, and the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center is leading the charge.

The turnout for this event has been phenomenal, and we have become the largest fundraiser for the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center. Last year we raised close to $100,000! The Tee It Up for Cathi Keilty committee and I are excited to build off that success and would like you to be involved in helping us fight scleroderma at this year’s event. You can purchase a sponsorship, participate in the golf tournament, and/or join us for dinner. The dinner will feature both a live and silent auction, awards presentation from the golf tournament, and a short address from the staff of the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center.

I hope you will join us for the event and help raise money to fund research for new treatment options and a cure for scleroderma.

Tom Keilty
Chairman, Tee It Up for Cathi Keilty
Chief Operating Officer, PHH Arval

Lauri’s speech

admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:18:56 +0000

Dr Wigley’s speech

admin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:17:26 +0000

A message from Tom Keilty

admin — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 06:09:01 +0000

First, my kids and I would like to say THANKS to all those that helped make our first annual ‘Tee it For Cathi Keilty” event such a huge success. The support that we received from friends, family, co-workers and business partners was truly amazing. I was originally hoping we would raise $15,000-$25,000 and have enough golfers participate to make the event a success. To have 200 golfers and raise almost $140,000 was just incredible. There are just too many people to thank to list them all here, but suffice it to say I felt like George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life”. My kids and I were going through the most difficult time in our lives and we were fortunate to have friends that cared so much that they were willing to work so hard to make this a successful event. You know who you are and I can never thank you enough! I have participated in many fundraising golf events, (yes– you’d think I would be a better golfer) both personal and business, and while I realize my view is biased, I thought our event was absolutely the best one that I ever attended.

Why did we do this event? After the loss of Cathi, my kids and I were trying to decide what we could do to honor their mother. Well, Cathi spent a good portion of her free time helping with fundraisers at each of the schools the kids attended. In addition, scleroderma was such an unknown disease and consequently received limited funds funneled from the NIH and other organizations. When Dr. Wigley, Director of the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Research Center, told us that this disease can be cured with more research and money, our decision was made. We wanted to raise some money, it didn’t matter how much, and donate it directly to the Hopkins Center for research. We also wanted to raise awareness about this horrible disease.

Cathi was fortunate to be treated by someone like Dr. Wigley. He has dedicated his entire life to scleroderma research and is 100% committed to finding a cure. Patients come from all over the world to seek his help. I wish I could put into words what I think of Dr. Wigley. While I lost the love of my life, and my kids lost their mom to this disease, I take comfort in knowing that Cathi was treated by the best in the world. I truly believe that a cure will be found and I believe it will be found at Johns Hopkins.

My kids and I are very excited about this year’s event and are looking forward to seeing many friends, family, co-workers and partners! Thank you all!

Welcome to CathiKeilty.com

admin — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 06:09:16 +0000

Cathi, the wife of Tom Keilty, PHH Arval’s Senior Vice President of Customer & Vehicle Services, passed away this past May after battling an aggressive form of scleroderma for about a year. Cathi was a very compassionate woman who often gave much of herself to help others. It is in that spirit that Tee It Up for Cathi Keilty was created – to raise money to help others who are battling this often devastating disease.

Check out pictures from Tee It Up 2008!

admin — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 22:36:18 +0000

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