wellington | health
Polo for Life’s Barbara Bell Cook, Brandon Phillips and PJ Rizvi with the big check. PHOTO COURTESY JDCH
NO CHILD OR FAMILY LEFT BEHIND Local Nonprofit Polo For Life Teams With Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital To Support Families Battling Cancer Brandon Phillips and PJ Rizvi both know firsthand the trauma of childhood cancer, the hardships it causes, and the impact on families whose sole focus becomes how to save a life. Phillips, founder and president of the Wellington-based nonprofit Polo for Life, was diagnosed with Stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 14 and underwent months of grueling treatment.
Rizvi, a member of Polo for Life’s board, helped her sister, Penny, battle leukemia before her sibling succumbed to the disease. Both carry the scars of their childhood experiences to this day but use those memories to fuel a philanthropic spirit aimed to ensure that others don’t suffer as their families once did. That’s what recently brought the
two, along with Polo for Life Executive Director Barbara Bell Cook, to the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Health Specialty Center in Wellington. Armed with an oversized check for $100,000, representing some of the proceeds from the nonprofit’s “Polo for a Purpose” fundraiser, the group was all smiles making the contribution to the patient and family assistance fund at the Joe DiMaggio wellington the magazine | july 2022 31