Since March 07, 2003 Major Tom O’Connor has successfully battled with Leukemia. His family, friends, co-workers, neighbors and even strangers have donated blood, plasma and platelets to aid him in his recovery. This unfortunate situation seemed to spark the employees of the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office to rally to Major O’Connor’s side.

In February 2005, Russell Finley and Mark Costley began to search for a means of helping Major O’Connor with his financial burdens caused by this disease. After considering numerous possibilities, it was decided that hosting a charity softball tournament for Public Safety Employees and in honor of Major O’Connor, was the route they wanted to take. Knowing only what they had recently heard about this disease, Russell and Mark involved the American Cancer Society and designated their agency as the recipient of all proceeds from the tournament.

I cannot begin to tell you how many hundreds of people who joined us in our mission to help Major O’Connor. People came from all over the county to assist with the planning and running of the tournament. We had players and teams from all across the metro area including Sheriff’s Office, Police Department, Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services. – Mark Costley

On August 20, 2005 the dream became a reality. With the help of local businesses, friends, employees, family and complete strangers, “Friends of Tom O’Connor” raised approximately $15,000.00 to aid in the research to finding a cure for leukemia.

Today, Friends of Tom O’Connor has grown into an organization of 6 members (click here to meet the Board of Directors), all who are committed to raising funds for leukemia research and ultimately a cure. This year, we are continuing our efforts by hosting another softball tournament benefiting the Leukemia Research Foundation which takes place on November 09, 10 and 11, 2007. Together, we can “Help Public Safety Catch A Killer.”