Please support our cause to help youth create a sustainable grassroots movement
to change the culture of alcohol and drug abuse in America!
This year, the 11th Annual Joe Upshaw Golf Classic will benefit Keep Friendship Alive. Erica Upshaw has reached nearly 100,000 students across the country with her keynote, Keep Friendship Alive. Erica’s presentation was inspired by the loss of her best friend and big brother, Joey Upshaw, who died in 2000 from an accidental alcohol and drug overdose while they were both attending Ohio State.
Keep Friendship Alive has achieved many successes by positively influencing high school and college students, but now it is time for the next step. Keep Friendship Alive is expanding to reach kids at a younger age with an unconventional, modern approach that turns peer pressure on its head.
Our goal is to help youth create a sustainable grassroots movement to change the culture of alcohol and drug abuse in America. We will reach young people before they have given in to a social culture that accepts and encourages risky behavior, and we will inspire them to pursue their passions and steer clear of substance abuse. We will dramatically change attitudes and behaviors towards substance abuse and demonstrate a measurable reduction in teenage substance-related deaths.
Our flagship program is an online video series that will kick-start the movement with 6th graders nationwide. College mentors, recruited through the Keep Friendship Alive network, will help fuel the movement. We will conduct cutting edge research and marketing to ensure that we are making the largest possible impact and we will continually measure our success.
We need your help. Please join the movement!
Register for the golf outing, personalize a fundraising page, make a donation.
Become a sponsor for the 11th Annual Joe Upshaw Golf Classic.
Find out how you can volunteer your time and energy to the cause.
Learn about Joey by reading what his family and friends have written, and scroll down to watch our videos.
VAL WOODLEY (Joey’s mom): Joey had at least a dozen different jobs in high school and college. He was a lifeguard, construction worker, server, pizza deliverer, valet parking, etc. His funniest job though was a clown, Jolly, at Magic Castle. He had to wear this ridiculous, heavy, hot costume with a voice synthesizer to entertain kids at birthday parties. Jolly Joe was posing for pictures once and his hand fell off on some kid’s shoulder. Joey loved it!
ED LUNDBERG (friend): When I talk about Joe Upshaw, I talk about PASSION for everything! Even one of life’s simple needs…food. One night he had just returned from the grocery store and stocked his mini fridge full of food for the week. (Big time stuff for being in a fraternity house). Once settled in, he proceeded to take the whole pound of turkey, wrap it in a few slices of cheese, and slam the entire thing like he was in a contest. Just Joe being passionate.
LAURA MCCALL (friend): Joey showed up one day in his mom’s car, only we weren’t 16 yet, we weren’t even 15, and he honked the horn the whole way down the street as he was coming to get me to cruise around the neighborhood. Joey thought my mom was at work, but unfortunately for Joey, he met my mom at the door and not me. He was ashamed and promised he would return the car safely to his driveway. Needless to say, he got into huge trouble for that one. Everyone in my family was touched by Joey’s loyalty, his liveliness, his ability to make us laugh, smile and bring us to tears with his charm. I feel lucky to have been his friend.
JOE WILLIAMSON (friend): There was the time when we took my dad’s brand new car to Key West. I didn’t let anyone else drive for the first thirteen hours because I was so nervous about messing it up. So we get down there from Ohio, and we spend a week in Key West being idiots and not a scratch on the car. We drive all the way back and no problems. Then literally five minutes outside of Columbus, Joe had a nightmare in the back seat and kicked both his legs out and ripped off the cup holder. Five minutes from being home free. Classic Upshaw.
ERICA UPSHAW (sister): Even in high school, when most siblings don’t get along that well, Joey was my best friend. He attended my riveting field hockey games, talked to me in the hallways, and even let me tag along with him to the cool upperclassmen parties. I always felt immense pride when “the Upshaws” showed up together. Joey treated me like gold. But I have to say, he was kind to so many others as well: his 10 or so best friends, the pipsqueaks at Magic Castle, his mama, the werewolf kid, the ladies the ladies, and even poopy jug head.
ADAM WILLETT (friend): Joey and I played a lot of golf together in college. Sometimes his swing reminded me of Rodney Dangerfield from Caddyshack. Once we decided to practice our game on our fraternity house roof, which makes complete sense. Most of us hit pitching wedges to get lift over a 3 foot ledge, but Joey decided it would be a great idea to hit a 3 iron, which obviously doesn’t get very high in the air. The guys were captivated as he deliberately drew back his club. The ball smacked the ledge flush and came flying right back at us! We all hit the deck and scattered to the ground. Joey laughed hysterically and we all bellowed out right along with him. You could never be mad at Upshaw.