Tag 4 A Cause at The EDGE

I want to thank everyone who participated in Tag 4 A Cause at The EDGE in Belleville, IL in support of the Ninjas Fighting Lymphedema Foundation! 

It was amazing to be able to hold this event at the world’s largest laser tag arena!

Special thanks to owners Keith and Mary and their phenomenal staff. I worked most closely on the event with Dwayne and Dennis, but the entire team helped to make it happen and I am very appreciative of their support.

I was joined by volunteer (and lymphedema thriver) Ramon and his girlfriend Michelle who were helping out on behalf of the Ninjas Fighting Lymphedema Foundation.

We set up a table in front of the arena entrance with medals for the challenge participants. Everyone who donated to the cause received a medal as thanks.

And the foundation shared some other fun “thank you” items as well.

As you can see, the golden phaser high score trophy remained very well protected all night!

Thank you to everyone who donated to the cause!

The laser tag players were ready to take on the world’s largest laser tag arena, which is well over 14,000 square feet and unlike any I have ever seen!

Inspired by the movie Avatar, this arena is completely immersive and features some of Keith’s own spectacular custom creations, like these stunning neon mushroom trees. 

Look up and you will see some Laserforce targets hidden among the treetops.

These are not the only unusual trees you will find inside this arena. 

One has grown so large in size you can actually enter from the bottom and meander all the way to the top to tag from the inside out!

And you might want to look carefully, as it’s possible you could find a base or beacon while you are inside the tree trunk.

You can try to tag from behind some cover among the foliage…

But, you are always being watched!

You could escape via the catwalk to a whole other part of this magical world…

But be careful passing through portals unless you or your team have already captured them.

In the next world over things look a little different.

Targets cascade down waterfalls and there are lots of cavernous spaces to explore.

This arena is big enough to get lost in the magic, but the Tag 4 A Cause players were up for the challenge and in the end Holden (aka Holdie Bean) had racked up an impressive score that earned him the golden phaser trophy!

If you look closely you can see that we all showed our support for the Ninjas Fighting Lymphedema Foundation by displaying the “ninja princess” avatar on the front screens of our Laserforce packs. Anyone recognize that image? ;)

We were joined at the end by Will Rivera representing as CEO for the Ninjas Fighting Lymphedema Foundation for which his wife, Amy Rivera, is the founder. 

Amy has a tremendous personal story of her lifelong fight against lymphedema, which she details in her book “Drop the Skirt: How My Disability Became My Superpower”. 

She is an inspiration to many as well as a tremendous advocate and spokesperson for lymphedema thrivers. Hearing her story and learning more about the efforts of the Ninja’s Fighting Lymphedema Foundation to provide advocacy, education and resources for individuals living with lymphedema is why I felt that supporting this foundation was important.

As the events of the evening concluded, the volunteers and I visited the bar/restaurant inside The EDGE to unwind after a busy event. I must highly recommend the funnel cake fries! And if you are looking to pass some time in the arcade or watch a movie The EDGE is a great place to enjoy it all. 

However, what stands out to me the most (even more than that enormous arena!) is the exceptional staff. My thanks again to Keith and Mary for hosting Tag 4 A Cause at their amazing facility, Dennis for being my marketing contact, Dwayne for handling the on site logistics, Sandy and Caleb for the pre-event coordinating, JT and Aiden for running the games, Mallory, Rachel and the whole front counter team for telling customers about the event as they arrived and everyone else who helped us make Tag 4 A Cause at The EDGE a successful fundraiser in support of the Ninjas Fighting Lymphedema Foundation. Find out more at https://www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com/tag-4-nflf.

Comments or Questions? 

Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com 

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com