Honoring son’s memory
Galt mom plans Lodi fundraiser to support scholarships
Michael Balsley-Rodriguez was an active teen who loved sports and playing with his dogs. The youngest of three siblings, Rodriguez was a 13year-old middle school student when tragedy struck in March of 2017. Rodriguez was home alone when he accidentally shot and killed himself.
The Galt family was left grief-stricken and riddled with guilt.
After losing her son, Silvia Van Steyn felt determined to keep his memory alive and created a nonprofit organization in his name called the Michael’s Miracle Foundation.
“We just got our 501c3 status approved in November, and we are planning our first fundraiser,” Van Steyn said on Friday.
Van Steyn is still in the early stages of getting everything together and is still seeking event sponsors for the April 20 dinner at the Merlot in Downtown Lodi.
“Right now we are self-funded but we hope this event will help us generate more revenue to help more people,” Van Steyn said. “It might sound idealistic but I would love to raise at least ten thousand dollars that can be turned into sports scholarships.”
For Van Steyn, she likes knowing she can help student-athletes because her son never had the opportunity to play at a higher level, which is why she focuses on sports scholarships.
“He was full of life. He had a great smile, he was very caring and very loving. He always had a football in his hand,” Van Steyn told the News-Sentinel shortly after her son’s death in 2017.
Michael’s love of football brought him to the field as a wide receiver for the Lodi Titans. He was also a big Oakland Raiders fan, enjoying wearing the team colors, silver and black. He was often wrestling with or playing football with his dogs, Captain and Sargent, loudly singing duets in the car with his sister and rough-housing with his brother.
Van Steyn’s youngest son was also an organ donor, giving her some comfort in knowing he was able to give life to others. She started a charity in Michael’s honor shortly after his death when eight of his organs were donated to Sierra Donor Services in Sacramento.
She became an ambassador for the program and attends speaking engagements where she shares her son’s story and the importance of being an organ donor.
Van Steyn has been developing her organization since 2017, she has hosted barbecue dinners and fundraisers to fund scholarships for youth from low-income families looking to get involved in sports. She has funded most of the scholarships, but now that she has officially become a nonprofit she wants to do more.
“Through our scholarships, we have funded two young men. We do require our scholarship recipients to be active in their community and volunteer. We have also sponsored a local high school in Lodi and Galt,” Van Steyn said.