It is with great excitement that the members of The Big Four Foundation would like to announce our official 501c3 status as a charitable organization.
This will bring more help to families in need, as well as more opportunities for businesses and individuals to help. 
Look for more communications within the coming days and weeks as we get geared up for our Hacker Classic Golf Outing on August 11th.
​

Everything has a season, and every great idea has it's moment. We can look outside and see the beginning of spring showing us that another season is beginning to move on, and yet another one is right around the corner. 

The Big Four Foundation has been quietly and unassumingly helping families in emergent situations within our community for the past twelve years. We have seen times of great prosperity, and we have witnessed those lean years where money was tight. We have given all that we have in our model of volunteerism, and even asked the community to get involved as well. We have a heart and a mission to help people in need and this will never change. 

Coming soon we will be announcing the changes coming forward for the Big Four Foundation. We are expanding our board of directors in accordance with our application to the state to become an official 501c3 charity with the State of Ohio. 
In order to accomplish this part of the task, as well as welcoming those new members we will need your help. The community of people willing to reach out their hands to help someone else is where this charity began, and we are reaching out to you now asking you to help us once again. We are asking you to extend that hand of help, so that we can extend your hand into the lives of those who need that assistance. 

If you can help us, please follow the link and donate directly to us. Every little bit helps, so don't think that you and your two dollar donation don't make a difference. None of us take a salary or any payment, so your two dollars means a lot in someones life when we put them all together. Soon we will be able to reach out to businesses and other entities that can help us to achieve great things in this community that we love. We are asking you to join us. Be a part of the #giveback spirit that started years ago, and join us for the ride that will see us grow into something so much more than it has ever been. 

For those of you who have helped us in the past, thank you. It is with your help and continued support that we will make this even better than before, and help so many more people who are truly struggling through life. 

Join us and give back!

The 10th Annual Hacker Classic will be held on August 13th, 2016 at the Shelby Oaks Golf Club in Sidney, Ohio. This will be an 11:00 am shotgun start so teams are encouraged to begin arriving by 10:30 to get registered and setup with information and carts. 

This year we will be donating the proceeds of the outing to the family of David Stammen. David is going to be a junior at Houston High School this year and is recovering from anaplastic large cell lymphoma. David has recently received a clean bill of health and given the title of "cancer free". The battle is far from over, as David gets his body back to "normal" shape since the treatments began back in the end of 2015. It is our goal to help the Stammen family ease their worries about the mounting healthcare bills that they now face. How great would it be if we could give them some peace of mind so that they could enjoy celebrating David's cancer free diagnosis!

As usual please email or call in your team of four people to Michael Mitchell at mmitchell@bigfourfoundation.org and 937-726-8524. We will only be able to save 32 spots for teams, and we already have teams lining up, so don't hesitate to save your space. You can pay for your team on the day of the outing at the clubhouse at Shelby Oaks. There will be our standard catered meal after golfing is complete. We will also have plenty of autographed sports memorabilia up for grabs in our silent auction at dinner. Please be sure to pay attention to upcoming Facebook posts and pictures of those items that will be on the bidding block. We will have our normal door prizes, team prizes, and individual prizes as always. Most importantly get us your businesses that would love to sponsor this event. We have different levels of sponsorship to help with the event, and to #giveback to the Stammen family. 

There are plenty of opportunities for you to have a great time, and to help this family out in the process. Please step up, and show the Stammen family how we #giveback to those who have a need in our community!

Thank you!

​Michael Mitchell

The Big Four Foundation is still alive and doing better than ever, helping more people than ever in our community. We are currently working on officially becoming a 501c3 charity within the state of Ohio. This will hopefully allow us to extend our reach within the community and solicit more donations than we have ever been able to before. This will take us deeper into our community and give us a bigger hand in helping those in need. Our focus will be on emergent families and their existing issues, from illness and tragedy to unforeseen circumstances, our foundation will be able to make a bigger impact on our community and surrounding areas.
The Big Four Foundation will be making an appearance at the Jackson Center Athletic Booster's Night At The Races on April 30th. With most of us coming from Jackson Center we are hoping to reach out to our friends and families and get our name out more than ever. 
The Hacker Classic Golf Outing has a date set, and a family selected. The date of the golf outing will be this August 13th at Shelby Oaks Golf Club in Sidney, Ohio. More details will be coming so be sure to stay connected with us on when and where to take advantage of a great day of fun and raising money to help a family in need!
As always, all of you are the reason that we are able to do what we do, and we thank you from the deepest parts of our heart. Your willingness to step up and help others in your community are the reason we exist. We are all a part of the #giveback spirit that the Big Four Foundation is all about! You are all members of the Big Four Foundation and we love you!

I was sitting here this morning and realized that with life, and schedules, and our real jobs, that I never had the opportunity to post an image of us with Luke Bemus when we stopped to drop off a check to help them with medical expenses. The Hacker Classic Golf Outing is our big event every year that we use to help a family that is in need. Luke Bemus and his family have been through so much, and we were glad to be a part of helping them and giving back. 
The Big Four Foundation isn't just the four of us volunteers. The Big Four Foundation is merely a vehicle by which the community comes together and helps each other. I have noticed that the people who have helped us in the past are beginning to step up and help, on their own, and I love that! It is all of the people and businesses who help us put together something special so that people can be helped in their time of need. We cannot help everyone we would like, we aren't that big. We are simply four guys who volunteer our time, and the time of our wives and families to organize the community efforts to help others. We don't have thousands of dollars in a bank account, let alone millions. I am sure that if we did have the money, there wouldn't be any in that account as we would spend it all on helping people and families in need. 
YOU the community are the Big Four Foundation. When you donate that $20 you have, when you get a team in the Hacker Classic, when you show up with donations for a family that has been devastated by a fire, when come to a benefit and hand over some money in a raffle, YOU are the Big Four Foundation. The Big Four Foundation is so much more than the four of us. There is no way we could do it alone. 
A huge thank you goes out to all of you who have helped, donated, purchased, and simply prayed for us as we become the face of your giving. We love you and cannot give you enough praise. 
In the past twelve months here is what we have done with your help!

• Two families displaced by fire, lost everything. Donations of furniture, clothing, money. Paid for new clothing, hotel stay, and funds for bills. 
• One family displaced by fire, lost some things but not all. Donations of money, gift cards, clothing, hotel stay.
• One family displaced by fire, lost some things but not all. Donations of money, gift cards, clothing, hotel stay.
• One family. Medical expenses for helping their son get the treatment needed for his cystic fibrosis related surgeries and care. 
• One family displaced by fire, lost some things but not all. Donations of money, gift cards, clothing, hotel stay
• One family displaced by fire, lost some things but not all. Donations of money, gift cards, clothing, hotel stay
• One family. Medical expenses for helping husband and friend in his battle with medical ailments that have kept him from working. 

​YOU, are the Big Four Foundation and YOU are what makes the difference in your community! Don't ever let your #giveback spirit fade, as there are always friends, family members, and people in our community that need our help. 

ALWAYS #giveback!
​

This year's Nearly World Famous Hacker Classic Golf Outing will be help on August 8th, 2015 at The Shelby Oaks Golf Club in Sidney, Ohio. Shotgun start is planned for 11:00 am. Feel free to stop by the Hacker Classic page with the link above for more details. 
Each year we attempt to help a family in need with our golf outing. This year we have chosen to help the family of Luke Bemus. Luke is a young man that has been battling Cystic Fibrosis most, if not all, of his life. Luke has recently had some complications with an infection in his lungs and just last week had part of his lung removed. There are more surgeries coming up for Luke as doctors attempt to heal the other parts of his body. Please join us and help us to raise money in helping the Bemus family find a small amount of comfort in dealing with the financial side of Luke's care. 
We also need to take this time to let you know that we also do more than help one family with the proceeds from a golf outing. We have helped four different families this year, by picking up the pieces and helping to pay for hotel stays, meals, and clothes after they were displaced from fires in their homes. 
We also continue to help our previous

Several weeks ago there was another fire here in Sidney, Ohio. This fire was not a complete loss fire as some have been in the past but the family of eight has been residing at the Days Inn in Sidney for a few weeks now waiting on repairs to be made to the home so they can move back in. The Hines family reached out to the Big Four Foundation and we have helped in ways that we can. We have covered the hotel stay and even donated a few gift cards to help with the burden of meals. Hopefully the Hines family will be back in there home this week. If you would like to help offset some of the expenses that have been paid out by the Big Four Foundation you can simply click on the lick and hit the donate button www.bigfourfoundation.org/donate to help.

Get your teams ready for the Hacker Classic Golf Outing, which will be held at Shelby Oaks Golf Club in Sidney, Ohio on August 8th with a shotgun start at 11:00 am and a dinner following golf. We will have more information on the family that we are helping this year later this week after we speak to them. 

On an important note, we do help people all year long. We do not provide assistance to one family and only with the proceeds of the Hacker Classic Golf Outing. The golf outing merely provides a way for us to donate a larger sum of money at one time to a family in need. We have helped over four families this year with hotel expenses, clothing, and other needs due to fire. We have also been quietly giving smaller sums of money to other families in need this year as well. We have also stepped up to help our friends over at Hero Strong, who are making a difference in kids lives. Go search for Hero Strong on Facebook and follow them to see all the amazing things they are doing. Your gifts are greatly appreciated and unlike those large charities, we can actually make a difference in our community.

A great big, heart-felt thank you goes out to all of you who have supported us over the years and continue to make a difference in this community. We appreciate all of you for your #giveback spirit!

Another day here in Sidney, Ohio and yet another fire forces a family out of their home. I know the Bundy's personally as their son Noah is a Tiger Cub with my son in the Den that I lead for Pack 97 Cub Scouts here in Sidney. 

So far they have lost everything. They are still waiting to get back in to see if there is anything that they can salvage, but that will not be till next week. I have already taken a few things over to them, thanks to wonderful donations from great people!

Three family members are currently staying at the hotel, which we will likely need to help them in funding part of their stay. The Red Cross has paid for four days right now, but that will only get them by for so long. Clothing sizes are as follows. Women's 18 pants and 2XL shirts. Men's 34/32 pants and L or XL shirts. Boys size 6 pants and shirts. We will likely take them to get shoes like we normally do, so setting up a time with them will be crucial for that. I already took over a big box of boys clothes, and purchased undergarments as well, and I know that there is another person who has some boys clothes to take over. In need of the men's and women's clothing. Once they find out what they can or can not salvage (which they may not be allowed to get back into the house to find out) we can compile a list of furniture needs. 

As always you can stop by our Donations page and donate funds to help us purchase some of their needs, and to help pay for hotel room days. www.bigfourfoundation.org/donations 

Thank you to all who have donated already today, and hopefully some of you will accept the Facebook challenge that has been going around. If we can get 200 people to donate $20 each, that will be an amazing thing. 

Michael Mitchell
The Big Four Foundation

It is great news that both families from the fires in Sidney, now have their own roof over their head.

The Kelly family moved into their home at the end of December, and the Amrine family just got their keys this weekend. 

We had a kitchen table and chairs, and a television that we delivered to their new house this evening and it was amazing to see how a simple roof over their head could bring joy. My wife made the comment that she was sorry that there were only four chairs, and Travis quickly said, "that is four more than we had before you stopped by". Such humility and gratefulness is amazing to see. These are truly good people, making the most out of the hand that they have been dealt. My heart goes out to them and their struggle to put the pieces back together.

There are still needs that we need help with. I have a contact that is looking for a home for an old couch and recliner. They could use about two more beds for adults, and any dressers, nigh stands, or any furniture is really welcomed at this point. We have a shot at possibly getting them a microwave which will help in the kitchen, and they are in desperate need of kitchen utensils, pots, pans,silverware, and dishes.

We are also still working with the Days Inn to get their hotel bills paid off for them. 

We have some money, but not nearly enough to cover the expense of spending several weeks in the hotel. The Amrine family still has one hotel room as the water is not yet turned on and they need that to take showers and such. 

Please contact me if you have anything that you would like to donate and I can get that to them. If you would like to donate money to help pay for the hotel rooms, you can simply go over to our Donate page and make a donation directly to the Big Four Foundation and we will get their bills paid for. 

Thank you so much to everyone who has stepped up, gotten out of their comfort zone and helped us ease the discomfort of getting back to normal for these families. They are very grateful for everyone's help. 

Yesterday was a celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.and what he meant to people, in general, and what he did for civil rights. 

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity". - Martin Luther King Jr.

Sincerely,

Michael Mitchell
The Big Four Foundation
mmitchell@bigfourfoundation.org