Stronger Hearts Foundation

Built from the fight. Powered by love.

Where It Started

In July 2024, during a routine 20-week anatomy scan, Conner and his wife received a diagnosis no parent is prepared for: their son Dawson had Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) — a critical congenital heart defect where the left side of the heart is severely underdeveloped. It meant open-heart surgery within days of birth, a lifetime of cardiac care, and a road no one gives you a map for.

Dawson underwent his first open-heart surgery — the Norwood procedure — at three days old at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. It lasted nearly 8 hours. His chest was left open for three days. He spent Thanksgiving, and eventually Christmas, in the hospital. When he finally came home on Christmas morning 2024, it was one of the most meaningful days of their lives.

But the fight didn't stop there. Emergency medevac flights, respiratory crises, a second major surgery in May 2025 — the Glenn procedure plus aortopexy — and countless days of recovery taught the family something critical: the medical system can save a child's heart, but it doesn't always support the family holding everything together.

Hotels were expensive. Housing programs had weeks-long waitlists. Families were left scrambling for food, rides, and somewhere to sleep — all while their child was in surgery.

Stronger Hearts Foundation was created to close that gap.

What We Do

Stronger Hearts Foundation provides immediate, practical support to families of children with congenital heart disease during the most critical moments of their journey. We focus on three core programs:

Our Impact So Far

Why the Hearts & Clubs Classic

Every registration, every sponsorship, every donation from this tournament goes directly to supporting CHD families. There are no middlemen. No overhead bloat. When you play on September 30th, you're helping a parent sleep closer to their child's hospital bed. You're putting food in their hands on the longest day of their lives. You're telling a family they're not forgotten.

Nobody voluntarily signs up to be a part of this club. But once you're in it, you're family. And family shows up.