Bridger & Essex Grebe Softball Challenge

William Ainsworth Hart, Kelly’s father and grandfather to Bridger, Essex, Griffin and Tripp, tragically passed away on January 22.

Learn more about his life and legacy here.

The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Bridger & Essex Grebe Fund, “Bill’s charity of choice in support of a cure for Infantile Neuroaxanal Dystrophy that took his grandchildren too soon.”

Donate here, and enter “Bill Hart” in the “Tribute Information” section.

Thank you for your support, and for you thoughts and prayers for the Hart and Grebe families.

In anticipation of today’s game, we wanted to give you a peek at a project one of our sponsors — Carl Collective — has been working on: a video telling our family’s journey with INAD. In the final video, you will see interviews with our family, the executive director of INADCure Foundation, and a physician from Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, as well as family videos, photographs and footage from Saturday’s game. 

Please take a couple of minutes and watch the preview of that video.

It is our goal to keep the memories of Bridger and Essex alive through this game, helping families who are dealing with this illness and doing what we can to find a cure. We hope this video project will help in telling that story. Whether or not you are able to attend the game, or bid in our ongoing online auction, thank you for your unwavering support.

We can’t believe the Softball Challenge is nearly here. For more information about the event, parking, or additional details, check out our frequently asked questions page here.

Looking forward to seeing you at the game!

Ladies and gentlemen, start your bidding! The 2023 Bridger & Essex Grebe Softball Challenge auction is now open.

The online auction closes at 8 p.m. CT on Saturday, August 5.

If you haven’t registered to attend the game and would like to, please click here. 

Proceeds from this year’s event will help fund INAD research and provide support for families with needs similar to those of Bridger and Essex. Thank you all for your continued support.

Registration for the 2023 Bridger & Essex Grebe Softball Challenge is now live! The event will be held at Thiensville Village Park on Saturday, August 5, beginning at 5 p.m. 

Tickets include entry, a T-shirt, a variety of free food and beverage, and access to our auction and raffle. 

Registration Donation Costs: 

• Adults 21+: $60 per person
• Youth 14-20: $35 per person 
• Children 13 and under: complimentary with an adult donation 

Funds raised will support INAD research and assistance for families who have needs similar to those of Bridger and Essex.

Click here to view the 2023 Softball Challenge page. There, you can register to attend the game, donate and receive a T-shirt (without attending the game), and enter the bid to be a player. 

Thank you for your support in the fight against INAD!

We are proud to announce that the Bridger & Essex Grebe Fund is making a contribution of $200,000 to the INADcure Foundation to be used towards its Gene Therapy Program.

This contribution is only possible because of the generous support offered by the many special people who have supported the Fund over the years, especially through the Bridger & Essex Grebe Softball Challenge.  This year’s event – the 12th annual – raised more than $60,000.

It has been our privilege to support INADcure in the past, and this latest donation will aid the INADcure Foundation in its mission to raise $7 million in the next 24 months to fund its gene therapy program and move closer to a cure. As described on the INADcure website: 

“The goal of the INAD gene therapy research project is to develop treatments for impaired PLA2G6 function, the underlying cause of Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy (INAD). Gene therapy is a revolutionary approach to treating genetic diseases. It involves a one-time delivery of a normal copy of the defective gene which ideally causes the body to naturally produce the missing enzyme, which is what is causing the neurodegeneration in INAD. It is the most promising ‘cure’ for our children. The primary objective of the current project is to determine the safety and efficacy of gene therapy approaches in the INAD mouse model, focusing on understanding key requirements for delivering the PLA2G6 gene to the central and peripheral nervous system.”

The Bridger & Essex Grebe Fund has two goals – helping needy families support children afflicted with INAD and similar diseases and helping find a cure for INAD.  Thanks to the dedication of the team at INADcure, remarkable progress has been made towards that dream of a cure.  We ask that you consider joining us in donating directly towards the gene therapy program to enable continued progress in the research and development of therapies that will help to treat and prevent INAD.

Click here to make your donation. Thank you!

On behalf of the Grebe family – along with the other families who you help – thank you for your support of the Bridger and Essex Grebe Fund and the 12th annual Softball Challenge. 

The money raised during the event supports the two goals of the B&E Fund: providing support directly to needy families with children who have conditions similar to Bridger and Essex, and supporting research directed at finding a cure for INAD.  Therapy, equipment, and other services make a tremendous difference to children – but they are expensive and typically not covered by insurance.  And as we shared at the event, research toward a cure has progressed significantly over the last year, and as soon as enough funds are raised the researchers working on the project will begin moving towards clinical trials, which is a significant step forward.  That is a remarkable development and the research seems to be progressing rapidly.

While the final dollars are still being tallied, it looks like we might come close to matching or exceeding last year’s fundraising total of $50,000, which will enable the B&E Fund to make another significant contribution to INADCure for gene therapy fundraising campaign toward clinical trials.  We are very grateful for the generosity of family, friends, colleagues, and even people we have never met.  Thank you.

Although we escaped rainfall, the Old Men (and a Woman) could not escape yet another loss to the Young Guns.  (The Old Men were also unable to escape without at least one injury.)  As the Young Guns extended their unbeaten streak to another year Michael is looking forward to recruiting the entire starting lineup for the Lakeshore Chinooks to make up the Old Men’s team next year.

The Softball Challenge was developed and inspired by Connie and Reik Read as a way to help other families while we remember Bridger and Essex and celebrate their lives.  Our family is lucky to have the Read family as such dear friends – thank you Connie and Reik.

Pictures of the event will be uploaded on the website in the next few weeks. www.Bridgerandessexgrebefund.com.   If you weren’t able to attend the event but still want to make a donation you are – of course – able to do so online. 

http://www.greatermilwaukeefoundation.org/donors/give-online/give-bridger-stowe-grebe-fund.

Once again, thank you to everyone for helping make this event successful, for supporting the B&E Fund and the families it helps, and for helping us remember the joy and meaning that Bridger and Essex brought to our lives.  We are truly grateful.  Look forward to seeing you at the 13^th annual softball challenge next year.

The Grebe Family

TMJ4 paid a visit to the Softball Challenge to tell the story of Bridger and Essex.

Check out the story here.

Click here for event details.