Jackson, 52, led a kickoff tournament on Sept. 13 in memory of her son, Clifton Langhorne, who would have been 29 that day. He was diagnosed with Fanconi anemia, an extremely rare disease that leads to bone marrow failure.

The tournament was held online for golfers to compete with others around the world to get one step closer to the grand prize of $1,000 to $100,000 in cash.

The tournament will run until November; all profits fund Fanconi anemia research.

Jackson frequently hosts fundraisers in which 85 percent of the proceeds go to the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund, Inc., a nonprofit research organization.

Jackson became a golf entrepreneur as a need to offset her son's medical costs. Medical bills during the last stage of his illness came in at about $5,000 per week.

After Clifton died last year, Jackson threw herself into her work, founding S&E Diversified Services, which introduced a 3-D online golf game internationally.

The golf games are now used by more than 5,000 Web sites to increase traffic, advertise, and to encourage repeat visitors. She said over a half-million hits have come across her site in the last year.

"It is a very expensive sport and I--how can I put this--I try to attract people who have the money," said Jackson.

She purchased the golf game from the Clayton, Mo.-based MVP Network just months after her son died in 2002.

"The games are priced from $495 to $2,945 per year for potential advertisers," said Jackson. "We are trying to make golf more popular in the communities."

"For three years I tried to get on the Oprah [Winfrey] Show. If I could have gotten on the show, it would have kept him living longer," said Jackson. "He would have had a better life."

Bone marrow transplants are currently the only long-term cure for the disease that ultimately killed Jackson's son and people have between a one in 100 to one in 600 chance of carrying the gene, according to the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund, Inc., a nonprofit research organization.

But, said Jackson, "It would have cost [us] a half million dollars to get a bone marrow [transplant]."

The online business keeps Jackson's spirits up. She remembers Clifton as a loving child with a good social life.

"He was only suppose to be here for a short time. He served his purpose," said Jackson.

Tim Smith, co-founder of MVP Networks said he is proud of what Jackson is doing.

"She has a beautiful heart and her passion is to help people in need," said Smith. "She's got a good home-based business."

Jackson has devoted her time to educating people on the disease.

"I believe in helping other people," said Jackson. "There is still a lot of work to do, a lot of people sill have the disease, especially children." Jackson will show her online golf games at the Conquering Force Expo; business-to-business trades show on Sept. 26 at the Best Western on Oxon Hill Road.

"The public can come see my games," said Jackson. "I want to show people how they can take the game and turn it into a business for themselves."

E-mail Tiffany Young at tyoung@gazette.net.