Iowa Wolves president Drew Van Meeteren was inspired to help others after daughter's death

Iowa Wolves president of business operations Drew Van Meeteren sits in his office on a November morning, reaches into his backpack, pulls out a keychain and slides it across his desk. Attached to it is a white and blue butterfly charm.

“It just makes me smile,” Drew Van Meeteren says as he looks at it.

The butterfly is a way Van Meeteren honors his daughter, Jess, who was just 5 years old when she died in 2008. Butterflies were among her favorite things. Van Meeteren can't stop smiling as he proudly shows it off.

“It’s like giving her a hug when she’s not here,” he says.

Jess is rarely far from his mind. She's a big reason why Van Meeteren is where he is today, preparing for his first season leading the Wolves, the NBA G League affiliate of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Jess’ life inspired Meeteren to find ways to help others. This job is another chance.

“The personal life experience has led him into the arena of giving back,” said Torrey Gane, vice president of tournament business at the PGA Tour and Van Meeteren's former colleague.

Van Meeteren experiences the help of others during his daughter's sickness

Van Meeteren and his wife, Leah Churchman, have wanted to give back after getting so much help early on as parents.

Just four and a half months after having twins Kade and Jess, their daughter was diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis, an infection that causes pressure around the brain, sometimes leading to strokes and brain damage. The strain was aggressive and attacked the soft tissues of her brain. It nearly killed her at the time of the diagnosis.

Jess survived. But the prognosis was not good. The couple was told Jess might never leave the hospital. They were also told Jess wouldn't be able to eat, breathe or walk on her own. Doctors put in a stent to help with the drainage around her brain. They gave her a tube to help with feeding and performed a tracheostomy because she had to be intubated so many times.

Jess spent nearly 11 weeks at Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines. The nurses, doctors and support staff not only took care of her, but also cared for Churchman, Van Meeteren and Kade. The hospital and all the people there had a giant impact on their lives.

"An absolute hidden gem," Van Meeteren said.

When they came home, Jess had a suitcase full of medicines that needed to be administered to her daily. Van Meeteren and Churchman didn't know how much time they might have with Jess. It could have been six days or six years. So they treated every day like it was her last, going on vacations to Wisconsin and California and venturing to the beach and waterparks.

“It was very important to us to try to do what we could call as normal of things as possible with her,” Churchman said.

The family got plenty of help as well. Jess had speech and physical therapy. With the help of the pediatric therapy department at Blank, her parents got her a device that enabled them to communicate with her. They recorded messages and options that Jess could hit buttons for as responses.

Through the device, they learned about Jess’ love for butterflies, which decorated her room, and her sense of humor. She once jokingly suggested they get a pink bathrobe for Kade for Christmas.

"The work that they do is absolutely amazing," Van Meeteren said. "And through the workings of them and the devices and things that they were able to present in front of us, we were able to essentially communicate with Jess that we wouldn't have otherwise."

Van Meeteren finds a way to carry on his daughter's legacy

Jess died on Jan. 25, 2008, of complications from meningitis. Her family wanted to make sure her legacy lived on. They did it the best way they knew how: by helping others. They created The Butterfly Fund at Blank. The goal is to help families with special-needs kids purchase equipment they needed.

Van Meeteren and Churchman understood how important things like that were as a result of the communication device they used with Jess. They also knew that some families don't have insurance and can't afford to pay for such accommodations. So Van Meeteren, who grew up in a golfing family in Sheldon, started a charity tournament to be the primary fundraiser for the fund. The tournament helped raise money, and Churchman believes it helped her husband through the grieving process.

"He really poured himself in that," Churchman said.

It became a quick success, raising money and awareness. Van Meeteren received letters, drawings and thank-you notes from kids and their families. He was overwhelmed by the generosity and touched by the impact they were having.

"At one point, we were nine years into it, and we raised a quarter of a million dollars," he said. "It was literally the most satisfying thing I've ever done in my life."

Van Meeteren was working in the corporate world at the time. After seeing firsthand how people were impacted by his charitable work, he wanted to focus his attention on finding other ways to do good.

In 2017, he was one of four individuals chosen for the executive director initiative on the PGA Tour. Van Meeteren had a passion for the game and liked the work the tour had done giving back and making an impact in communities.

He wanted to do the same. So Van Meeteren moved to Kansas City and ran the AdventHealth Championship, an event on the Korn Ferry Tour. It provided him that chance to give back. Each year featured a theme; one year was mental health awareness. Organizers also did a "birdies for charity" program.

"It literally was taking what Jess provided us in terms of the opportunity to make a difference through Blank and the pediatric therapy department then to a whole other level in another city and impacting other lives through that (while) at the same time we kept the Butterfly Fund in existence," Van Meeteren said.

'He wants purpose in life,' friend says of Van Meeteren

Van Meeteren believes fate brought him back to central Iowa. He wanted to return to the area when his mother-in-law fell ill and needed some help. The Wolves had an opening when previous president Ryan Grant departed for another job. Van Meeteren thought the team would give him another platform to do some good.

"He wants purpose in life," Gane said.

Van Meeteren has it. With many of the team's initiatives and plans for the 2023-24 season already solidified, he's focusing on getting out in the community. He wants people to learn about the Wolves and about him so they can see where he's coming from and what type of impact they can have on people around town.

And he already has his eye on next season. That's when he hopes to get the Wolves more involved with the community and causes.

"We're a big part of the community," he said, and he aims to help ensure "what we're doing is giving back to the community and making a difference in the community," he said.

After all, he says, that's what Jess would want. That may be the best way Van Meeteren honors and remembers his daughter.

"You have a platform and you have a responsibility as a leader in those platforms to think beyond the golf course or the basketball court," he said.

Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018 and 2020 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.

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To learn more about The Butterfly Fund and how to donate, go to www.jpbutterflyfund.org.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Wolves president motivated to help others after daughter's death