The air of excitement was accented by the brisk weather as former sports figures and local charity supporters gathered for Gift of Life’s sixth annual Celebrity Golf Tournament on Monday, February 23, 2026, at the beautiful Breakers West Country Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Celebrities in attendance included former NFL legends Woody Bennett, J.B. Brown, Jason Cabinda, Travis Daniels, Troy Drayton, Kerry Glenn, Sean Hill, Sony Michel, Laurent Robinson, Don Silvestri, Duane Starks, Vinny Sutherland, Jed Weaver, and Erik Williams, along with NHL alum and Florida Panthers Radio Color Analyst Bill Lindsay.
(L-R) Gift of Life Board of Directors Member and Golf Tournament Chair Mindy Schneider, Board Member and Transplant Recipient Wendy Siegel, and Founder and CEO Jay Feinberg.
Lunch was served before the round, and other activities featured a silent auction, a chance drawing and in-game contests including closest-to-the-pin, longest drive and hole-in-one.
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Nine-year-old Lily Woertz met her hero Kaden Schlichenmaier at the post-tournament ceremony. Lily's life was threatened by an inherited immune disorder before a stem cell transplant from Kaden restored her health.
The highlight of this fundraising event was when stem cell donor Kaden Schlichenmaier met his young transplant recipient for the first time. Gift of Life board member Mindy Schneider, who served as the tournament chair, was given the honor of introducing the pair. Nine-year-old Liliana “Lily” Woertz and her mother, Lauren, took the stage with their anticipation clear on their faces, as Mindy shared background on Lily’s journey.
Lily had been diagnosed with a complex and rare series of illnesses at only one year old, including Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (SJIA), Macrophage Activation Syndrome (a form of autoimmune disorder), and Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD).
“Stem cell transplant is a newer treatment for SJIA, and while Lily was considered to be in remission, the ILD continued to worsen, and there is no treatment for it,” said Lauren. “We had to do something, and the bone marrow transplant doctors at Cincinnati Children’s came up with a plan – we went from watching Lily get worse to having a chance.”
That chance came in the form of a Gift of Life donor, Kaden, who is not only a genetic match for Lily, but he also had other health characteristics that helped to ensure the transplant would be successful.
“I joined the registry while a student at Florida State University during Professor Pat Pallentino’s marketing class,” said Kaden. “I wanted the opportunity to help someone in need, and when I got the call about donating to a [then] 7-year-old girl, I became very emotional and so were my mom and fiancée when I told them.”
Kaden could hardly wait for the introduction to take place.
“I was so excited to meet them,” he said. “I wanted her to know the support that she and her family have from me and my family.”
The moment when Kaden walked to the stage to greet Lily – who had a huge grin from ear to ear as she met her hero – was heartwarming and emotional. Lauren also could not stop smiling as she hugged Kaden.
“You gave us our daughter back; there are no words to describe how thankful we are,” Lauren said. “Lily has been asking for months to meet you. When we first learned we had a matching donor, you immediately became family to us.”
The two families look forward to celebrating together.
Thank you to our sponsors for supporting the golf tournament, and to all our committee members for helping to organize this incredible fundraiser: Edward Blumenfeld, Barry Breslau, Peter Cohen, Dr. Stephen Colen, Ignacio Edenburg, Evie Goldfine, Donna Krasner, Katerina Luttner, Gav Martell, Brooke Owens, Stephen B. Siegel, Michael Steinberg and Mitchell Stern.
View all the photos from the event by clicking here.