Photo by Mia Piccio

The University of Florida athletic venues were the spots to see smiles Saturday morning as Gator student-athletes played a variety of games with cancer-stricken children.

The seventh annual Brandon Ling Memorial Sports Camp took place Saturday morning with the help of approximately 100 UF student-athletes, including many members of the Gator gymnastics team. The student-athletes played games with cancer-stricken kids and their siblings in basketball, lacrosse, soccer, volleyball and cheerleading.

Ron Farb organizes the event each year through his Climb for Cancer Foundation, which raises money to help the families of children with cancer. Almost 60 children ages 7 to 18 participated in Saturday’s camp.

Children such as seven-year old Gabe Grant took part in Saturday’s activities. The day prior, he underwent a chemotherapy injection to fight his leukemia at the Tampa area All-Childrens Hospital.

Saturday, he was laughing and running with the other children and the Gator student-athletes. He said he had fun playing with the Gators and even took some snaps at quarterback in the spirited flag-football contest.

His mother, Tammy Folsom, said this day was a great treasure for Gabe and his four brothers who joined him for the morning of activities with the Gator student-athletes.

“We’ve been doing this (fighting the leukemia) for three years. To see him in chemo yesterday getting an injection and 24 hours later he’s running around having the time of his life,” Folsom said. “I don’t think the athletes realize the impact that they make. They make the cancer go away for the little bit of time that he is with them and that’s something that a mom can’t do. It is priceless to us”