May 2019

The 15th annual Bio-Ball  was recently held to benefit the athletes of Special Olympics Massachusetts. Athletes, volunteers, and bio-tech industry teams gathered in Cambridge, MA for a day of fun and fundraising. Continuing a decade-long tradition of giving back to the community, Faber served as a lead sponsor for the event.

Bio-Ball is a one-day basketball tournament involving local biotech and pharma companies, along with 16 Special Olympics Massachusetts basketball teams. Each participating company pairs with a local Special Olympics basketball team to form 16 integrated and unified teams. They are then divided into two divisions to compete in a 5-on-5 competition, as well as various individual skills contests. At the conclusion of the event, the winner of Bio-Ball is named after a spirited championship game. Teams Bluebird Bio and the Wareham Wild Vikings emerged as the champions, each taking home the title for the very first time.

“Bio-Ball is an opportunity to help an amazing organization get the funding they need for a large portion of their basketball program. There were some really awesome things that happened this year,” said Faber Senior Contract Specialist Kori Kaufman. One of them was the record-breaking amount of money donated, with Bio-Ball raising more than $530,000 in support of Special Olympics Massachusetts. “It’s a huge deal that they raised more than half a million dollars”.  

A highlight of the day came with the induction of a Massachusetts Special Olympian into the Special Olympics Hall of Fame. “To spend the day with these amazing athletes who are so committed and into the sport, it just rubs off on everybody there. From the athletes to the volunteers, everybody had a smile on their face for the entire day,” explained Kaufman.

Further adding to the excitement, a famous guest made an unexpected appearance during the CEO Free Throw Contest, which features executives from each of the participating bio companies. To everyone’s surprise, former NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck joined in on the fun, taking his shot at a few free throws.

Six members of the Faber firm served as volunteers for this year’s Bio-Ball. Among them was Jen Rasay, the recipient of the firm’s first two-year Faber Fellowship. “This was only my second time volunteering at BioBall and, like last year, it was such a fun and fulfilling experience,” said Rasay. “I helped facilitate one of the Skills and Drills Stations where all of the tournament players practiced their free throws, so I got to witness all of the different teams’ dynamics and basketball skills. I even got to be active myself by rebounding their shots and passing the basketball back to the athletes! It was definitely a day well spent!”