Montgomery County family turns cornhole tournament into breast cancer fundraiser
Dozens packed a Montgomery County backyard as the Benning family’s cornhole tournament again turned grief into about $10,000 a year for breast-cancer support.
Dozens gathered around the Bennings’ Montgomery County home for an annual cornhole tournament that has become a steady breast-cancer fundraiser, with the family saying it now averages about $10,000 in donations each year. The backyard event, held Saturday, July 11, sent money to United for HER and Breast Cancer Support Services of Berks County.
Michael Benning said the tournament began after Rachel Benning found a lump, was diagnosed with breast cancer and died in 2019. Instead of letting summer gatherings fade after that loss, the family turned them into Fight B.A.C.K., short for Bags Against Cancer Kegger, a charity event built around the same boards, bags and neighborhood turnout that once made it a casual get-together.
The fundraiser has grown into a repeat fixture. By the tournament’s 10-year anniversary, the family had raised more than $12,000 for Breast Cancer Support Services of Berks County, and the organization said it had been one of the beneficiaries since 2018. Breast Cancer Support Services of Berks County says it was founded in the fall of 1993 by breast cancer survivors and family members in Berks County who saw a need for support and education in the area.
United for HER says it is a national nonprofit that provides free services and support for breast cancer and ovarian cancer patients. That gives the Bennings’ event a direct line from a backyard bracket to patient help, with the proceeds going to organizations built to cover the day-to-day strain of a cancer diagnosis.
Benning said he plans to keep hosting as long as he is physically able and as long as people keep showing up, because the event matters to his sons and keeps Rachel Benning’s memory tied to something active. The format helps explain its staying power: cornhole is easy to stage, easy to join and easy to repeat every year, which is why similar breast-health fundraisers have taken hold in Berks County too, including Toss for a Cause.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
