I had been working at Peace Love Mahjong for a few months when I first got this idea: we need a PLM mahjong tournament. Specifically a tournament for all the good-time gals in our community who want to try their hand at a more competitive environment without going straight into the intimidating classic tournament format. A dabbler tournament, if you will.
Then July 4, 2025, happened. Flood waters wreaked havoc on the Texas hill country and claimed many lives, including 25 precious campers and 2 heroic counselors at Camp Mystic. Watching the news unfold, I (like so many others) was paralyzed with feelings of despair and helplessness. I knew that place; I spent 15 summers in my youth there. It didn’t take long for me to realize I also knew some of the parents who had lost their daughters, including one of my best friends from my camp days. I felt compelled to help them, but was at a loss how.
The families of the girls came together to form an organization that would help carry their girls’ legacies forward: the Heaven’s 27 Foundation. I donated money, of course, and then purchased bracelets and t-shirts, yard signs and stickers. But it didn’t feel like enough. What could ever be enough? I was just one person without a platform of my own; there was only so much I could do. Then I remembered that I wasn’t alone. This tragedy touched so many lives, including those in our Peace Love Mahjong and Lake Highlands communities. When I presented the idea of a tournament benefiting Heaven’s 27 to Amber and Eleanor, the owners of PLM, they were immediately on board. Since then, we have been working behind the scenes to make Pause for a Cause a reality.
With your help and support, this year’s Pause for a Cause tournament will be the first of many that Peace Love Mahjong hosts to raise money for organizations and causes that are meaningful to us and our community. Please join us on January 30, 2027, to play mahjong and raise money for Heaven’s 27. United in grief, we can become united in our mission to carry the light of those 27 girls forward and build a brighter tomorrow.
- Meggie Orgain, Tournament Director