Carol Stream bags tournament raises more than $90,000 for charity

A popular bags tournament fundraiser in Carol Stream had another record-breaking year.

The Chrissy’s/Flood Brothers Relay For Life Bags Tournament took in $95,250, a record amount that eclipsed the 2024 haul of $86,250, the prior mark.

“I was stunned,” said Matt McCarthy, a Carol Stream trustee who helped found the annual bean bag-throwing competition nine years ago.

McCarthy and his wife, Linda, head a 17-member committee that organizes the Relay For Life Tournament.

“I didn’t think we’d hit (the total from) last year, and the amount of support we get from the community — friends, businesses, neighbors, the whole community — it’s unbelievable,” he said Monday.

It’s a vast difference from the approximately $10,000 raised when the McCarthys, their daughter, Shannon, and her husband, Tim Foley, started the tournament in 2016 to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

After nine years, the tournament has raised $373,250 for the American Cancer Society and various other charities.

This year, $35,500 was earmarked for the American Cancer Society. Sixteen other organizations each received between $750 and $5,000.

McCarthy said roughly 245 teams, about 500 people, played in the tournament over 13 nights, plus another night devoted to a competition between the Carol Stream and Bloomingdale park districts.

Many other people bought $5 raffle tickets.

Several competitions were dedicated to specific causes or individuals, including Bobbie Saverino, the late wife of Carol Stream Mayor Frank Saverino Sr.

Bobbie Saverino Night was on March 6, the first anniversary of her death from complications of cancer.

“It was tough, very tough. It’s tough every day,” Frank Saverino said.

Bobbie Saverino Night raised more than $10,000, the highest total of any single competition in the tournament’s nine years.

“We have a tremendous amount of friends in Carol Stream, family, business associates. The place was jam-packed with people,” said Frank Saverino, one of the tournament’s major sponsors.

“My wife was loved by everybody. She wore her heart on her sleeve,” he said.

Among the tournament’s recipients is the Dominic Saverino Charitable Organization, established by the Saverinos in memory of their son, who died in 2009 at 36 years old. The organization distributes need-based scholarships to high school seniors from Carol Stream.