ABOUT THE FOUNDATION
MISSION
Founded by Santonio Holmes in the fall of 2011, the mission of the III & Long Foundation is to raise awareness to help fight Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) and provide financial support and treatment options for families affected by the disease.
HISTORY
Santonio Holmes recognized the great need to advocate for SCD when his own son, Santonio “TJ” Holmes III, began to suffer from symptoms of the disease at an early age. A blood test revealed that TJ had inherited the blood disorder, and would need to combat the disease through constant hospital visits and medical treatment. Experiencing first-hand the medical, financial and emotional difficulties that families fighting SCD face, the NFL star built the III & Long Foundation in honor of his son, to educate families and help them navigate these challenges.
ADVOCACY & COMMUNITY SERVICES
The III & Long Foundation works in partnership with local SCD organizations to provide grants that enable families to receive proper treatment and education. The foundation is dedicated to building awareness about the disease through programs, merchandise, and fundraising events. These endeavors support families and raise funding for research on SCD.
III & Long Foundation produces special programs and educational services that unite and support the SCD community, including:
- Tutoring services for children during hospital treatment
- Educational seminars for parents
- Social media awareness campaign #GreaterThanSickleCell
- Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday community events
- Annual Strikes for Sickle Cell Bowling event
“As a parent of someone who has been diagnosed with SCD, I know how financially expensive and emotionally taxing the hospital bills and medication can be.
My goal is to help families that cannot afford the proper treatments by providing grants to organizations that assist these families.”
ABOUT SICKLE CELL DISEASE
SCD is the most common blood disorder in the U.S., affecting nearly 100,000 Americans, commonly of African-American descent. The disease causes round red blood cells to become abnormally curved and form a crescent shape.
These irregularly shaped cells can get stuck in small blood vessels, which can slow or block blood flow and oxygen to parts of the body. Currently, there’s no cure for most people with sickle cell anemia. However, treatments can relieve pain and help prevent further problems associated with sickle cell anemia.