By james art 
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) – Mother Nature is allowing many to get outside for a good cause after Tuesday’s snowstorm.
Kathryn Triche Loveless, a Bella Bowman Foundation volunteer, said the Interstates opened just in time for players from Lafayette and Lake Charles to get to the Open’s Open tennis tournament.
She said that with everyone at home and the events canceled, they can gather here. She thinks they had more people on Friday than usual because the schools were still closed.
Baton Rouge native Kim Bowman founded the Bella Bowman Foundation. She said putting on the tournament was a labor of love. She is grateful to bring the community together for something positive.
“Baton Rouge has an amazing community, it’s very supportive,” she said. “We have over 400 players and we are sold out. Every entry fee, every sponsor, goes 100 percent to our foundation. I am so grateful for every dollar that can go to our mission. “
She said the foundation’s mission is to help children and families going through traumatic health journeys, like the one she and her family went through in 2011 when her daughter Bella was diagnosed with brain cancer at age seven.
“We received incredible hospice care in the last ten days of her life. I can’t imagine not having all the wonderful memories we have,” she said. “We knew we had to help other families so they could have the support and comfort we did going through our journey. I am proud to say that we have helped hundreds of families in our community. “
Baumann also said the group is partnering with LSU. They fund medical research. They help families with baskets of care and support throughout their health journeys.