Community Highlights: Meet Drew Van Meeteren of AdventHealth Championship

In 2002, we were blessed with two beautiful children – a girl and a boy named Jess and Kade. Jess Peyton, affectionately known as JP to her dad, contracted pneumococcal meningitis at 4.5 months old. This strain of meningitis is very aggressive and attacks the soft tissues of the brain, resulting in severe brain damage. The prognosis was bleak, she would likely never leave the hospital or be able to breathe, eat or walk on her own.

After 10.5 weeks at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, Jess came home with a suitcase of medical care to be administered on a daily basis. Despite this, she had a big personality and brightness about her that people could see as soon as they met her. She loved people and loved to play. She especially loved swinging, walking, riding her tricycle, and “talking” with her switches.

Jess couldn’t talk with her voice, but through her switches, we learned so many things about her we would have not known if we hadn’t had them. As her family, Jess was a shining light to us. We didn’t see her disabilities; we saw the love that poured out of her, that touched people who didn’t even know her and made them smile. We saw how much she loved people and how much she wanted to move and be part of life. Every parent wants the world for their child and we did our best to give her all that we could and to help her do the most that she could. In January 2008 at the age of 5, Jess Peyton passed due to complications from meningitis.

As a way to honor Jess’ memory, we created The Butterfly Fund at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines to help parents pay for special equipment. We know that it is very hard for many parents to provide for the needs of their special children, and even harder to find the money for “nice to have” extras. Special toys and equipment are expensive and are not always paid for by insurance, waiver programs, or Medicaid. But these items can make a huge difference in a child’s life and in the lives of the families who want so much to give their children anything that will help them. We want all special children to have the chance to do as much as they can and to live as normally as possible. We want families to be able to play and talk with their children in whatever way works best for them. We want to give children the chance to fly, just as Jess did. (Website: https://www.jpbutterflyfund.org).

I grew up in a golfing family, thus it was natural that I start a charity golf tournament as our primary fundraiser for The Butterly fund. After several years of the charity golf tournament, we had raised over $250,000 for the fund and it was the most satisfying thing I had ever done in my life. The cards and letters we would receive, especially those handwritten by the children, we so moving – the sense of making an impact on people’s lives was breathtaking. I had found my purpose and wanted to take it to another level.

What happened next? Where did you take your passion from here?