by Dave Santistevan
TRINIDAD — When Trinidad comes together, boy do they come together! In September, Trinidad and Las Animas County got together to help one local resident in his battle against cancer. The very first annual “The Kick for the Cure”, was a 12-team double-elimination kickball tournament held at Southside Park to benefit Kristian Monohan, a 2008 graduate of Hoehne High School who served in the Army from Nov. 2008 to May 2012, and was working at Phil Long Toyota when he found out that he had cancer.
Chris and Lisa Velasquez of Trinidad played in a similar kickball tourney in Pueblo earlier in the summer of 2015. “My wife Lisa and I thought it would be a great idea to have a fundraiser a Kick for the Cure here in Trinidad.” Chris said. “So we started to ask around and the feedback was positive. We heard about Kristian and decided he would be great for our first recipient.” Lisa added, “Calls started coming in and everyone was willing to donate or help in some way. We can’t thank you enough, Trinidad.” The tournament consisted of 10 to 12 players on each team; 35 items were donated and raffled off, and the Trinidad High School Cheer team worked the concessions. All proceeds form the First Annual Kick for a Cure went to Kristian to help in his fight against cancer.
Monahan expressed his gratitude, saying, “Wow! It feels so, gratifying that so many people came together, not only for my fight, but for their own family members that are battling this horrible thing called cancer. I am so thankful for the help and everything they have given to me and my family! Thank you!”
The Velasquez family is also fighting cancer as Chris and Lisa’s daughter, Savannah Velasquez, had cancer and their mother Linda Velasquez is currently undergoing cancer treatment.
Amber Velasquez and her husband Chad Velasquez helped in organizing and getting sponsors for the this first annual event. “The community was so kind,” Amber said with a smile. “We decided to do a kickball tournament, knowing it was something new and we could get a lot of teams. We didn’t expect to get as many as we did, but we were completely thrilled with the 12 teams.”
Amber finished by saying, “We had a lot of people who volunteered time. Mishka Martin for selling the raffle tickets and the 50/50 tickets. Emily Olguin for creating the fliers. Chris and Chad for being drug around by us and helping with whatever needed also umped games. Rudy Sanchez, Nate Eden,and Chris Velasquez SR for umping games. Ruben Tenorio, Tyler Velasquez, and David Santistevan Jr., for donating PA equipment and playing music for the day. We are looking forward to next year’s tournament.”
