FALMOUTH – The head of a Falmouth nonprofit spoke about how her organization spreads acts of kindness while keeping her late son’s memory alive.
President of the Team Chase Foundation, Brooke DeBarros, spoke about her group and her late son Chase Soares in a recent Sunday Journal interview.
Soares was a Falmouth student and a lifelong basketball player. He died in 2020 at the age of 23.
DeBarros said that while grieving the loss of her son, she wanted to find a way to keep his name and legacy alive.
She decided to start the Team Chase Foundation (Together Everyone Achieves More, Care Help And Share Everyday).
DeBarros said that basketball was her son’s passion and that he was kind and humble. These qualities inspired her to create the Chase Challenge Kindness Ball as part of the foundation’s work.
The kindness balls are plastic discs that resemble basketballs and encourage people to continue Team Chase’s mission of spreading acts of kindness.
“So when (you) receive it, basically it says that it’s your turn to pay it forward and pass this kindness ball on with your act of kindness and keep the ball rolling,” DeBarros said.
Since each ball is outfitted with a QR code, DeBarros said people can follow the ball on Team Chase’s interactive map to see how far kindness travels.
DeBarros said that one ball has gone as far as South Korea.
“We’re hoping it goes worldwide and that the acts of kindness continue,” she said.
DeBarros and other Team Chase members recently travelled to her son’s birthplace of Atlanta, Georgia to spread acts of kindness through 13 states.
The Team Chase president said a similar trip is being planned for next summer to head to California, where Chase was planning to move.
The foundation also awards scholarships to Falmouth High School students.
DeBarros said Team Chase’s goal is to reach 1 million acts of kindness.
The foundation’s upcoming projects include plans for monthly charity drives, stuffing a van full of unwrapped toys on November 13 for World Kindness Day, and a Kindness Ball black-tie event.
Learn more about Team Chase Foundation on its website.
By Brian Engles, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
