Cambridge Who’s Who Executive of the Year, Shellie Berry, serves as the vice president of the Bertrand Berry Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by NFL Pro Bowler Bertrand Berry. The foundation seeks to offer children a better life experience and raises money to further the causes of two well-established not-for-profits: Childhelp® and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Childhelp® focuses on the prevention, intervention and treatment of children who are victims of child abuse and neglect. Its mission is to “meet the physical, emotional, education and spiritual needs of abused, neglected and at-risk children.” The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the largest voluntary health organization that funds blood cancer research, education and services for patients. The mission of LLS, founded in 1949, is to “cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.”
The Bertrand Berry Foundation sponsors several events throughout the year to benefit Childhelp® and the
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, including a celebrity golf tournament, dinner and auction and the Berry Bertrand Celebrity Weekend. This year’s celebrity weekend features the Tropical Illusion Dinner and offers several sponsorship levels from B-Train Sponsor ($10,000) to Individual Sponsor ($400). View additional details on sponsor levels and benefits here: Tropical Illusion Dinner. Another way to donate is through B-Train’s Track-a-Sack program. Sponsors pledge a specified amount for every sack that Bertrand Berry makes during the season.
The foundation also established the Mable Dean Scholarship Fund in honor of Bertrand Berry’s mother, a retired schoolteacher and advocate for higher education and civic engagement. The fund provides financial aid to college students who are committed to helping their less-fortunate peers. The scholarship award varies from $500 to $5,000 per year depending on the funds donated to the foundation during that year. As part of their application, students must submit an essay describing how they have impacted the lives of suffering children in Arizona by “offering them a better life experience.” Learn more about the fund and how to apply here: Mable Dean Scholarship Fund.
The Bertrand Berry Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. If you would like to donate, please make a check payable to Bertrand Berry Foundation and mail to 4331 E. Baseline Road, Suite B-105-620, Gilbert, AZ, 85234. Credit card donations can be made by calling (480) 495-3878.
Shellie Berry has been a lifetime member of Cambridge Who’s Who since January 2007. As vice president of the Bertrand Berry Foundation, she is responsible for coordinating its major fundraising events, including an annual golf tournament and celebrity dinners. Berry has lost many friends to cancer since age 12 when she began her battle with a rare form of leukemia. Having survived this disease, she and her husband are committed to find a cure for blood cancers. Berry earned a bachelor of arts in psychology from Texas A&M University in 1997 and has been recognized for her efforts in helping people through empowerment.
This foundation is great! Being that Shellie is a member of Cambridge Who’s Who, she will get a lot of online exposure with 400,000 active members on the main Cambridge Who’s Who website. I hope that she is able to raise a lot of money for this important cause. I look forward to hearing more from the Bertrand Berry Foundation in the future. We should also encourage Shellie to create a profile on Cambridge Who’s Who Connect.