The 13th Annual Charity Golf Classic was a huge success with golfers raising $94,948 in pledges. The funds will purchase equipment for 14 facilities in 12 local communities in Sunrise Health Region.

We were very fortunate to have a great day of sunshine and a gentle breeze. The golf course was lush and green; I don’t think we could have had a better day, said Ross Fisher, Executive Director of The Health Foundation.

“We have to thank our presenting sponsors who did a great job organizing the tournament this year,” continued Mr. Fisher. “The Presenting Sponsors donate $2,500 each, but they also help organize the Charity Golf Classic in addition to their financial donation.” The presenting sponsors are: Mosaic Potash Esterhazy, SaskTel, LDM Foods Inc. and the Credit Unions of East Central Saskatchewan.

“We like how this tournament is run, with the proceeds going to medical facilities throughout the health region, where many of your clients, customers and employees live” said Darryl Flunder, Procurement Manager for LDM. “Healthcare is a good cause, eventually everyone will use the healthcare system, and when we need it we want good facilities and equipment.”

“We are very pleased LDM Foods came on board as a presenting sponsor several years ago, they have helped us to take the Charity Golf Classic to a new level, said Mr. Fisher. In addition to sponsoring they enter a team of golfers in the tournament and every year they are among our top fundraisers. In the four years LDM has been a Presenting Sponsor their teams have raised over $50,000 in addition to the sponsorship money and volunteer time they provide.

51 businesses covered the costs of the golf tournament through sponsorships, and another 56 businesses donated prizes. The large number of sponsorships and donated prizes keep the cost of the golf tournament low allowing 100% of the monies raised by golfers to be used to buy equipment.

There is tremendous support from individuals throughout the region for the tournament as well. This year golfers collected 1,543 pledges. That’s a huge number of people making donations, and it shows how much work the golfers do to raise funds for healthcare. That’s also $61 a pledge on average — this tournament is the perfect example of how a lot of $20, $50 and $100 donations mixed in with a few large donations can add up to a lot of money.

First prize this year was a 7-day all inclusive Cuban vacation for two. The winner has their choice of several locations: from Havana or Cayo Santa Maria, or Varadero. Air from Regina is included. CAA Travel of Yorkton provided the vacation prize at no charge.

Our top fundraisers this year were:

1. Laurie Fischer of Winnipeg raised $12,020 to win the Cuban vacation

2. Ken Chyz of Yorkton raised $6,440, the second highest amount of money, and won a $1,000 travel voucher with CAA; and,

3. Jerry Palagian of Yorkton raised $3,470 and won a $500 travel voucher with CAA.

“The Charity Golf Classic has been going for 13 years, and in that time $925,000 has been raised and used to improve our local healthcare,” said Mr. Fisher.

This year the top fundraising team was Kris Sapara, Kim Sapara, Laurie Fischer, and Curtis Loucks who raised a total of $25,790. They were presented with the Credit Unions of East Central Saskatchewan Top Fundraising Team Trophy.

The Health Foundation extends a very sincere thank you to each and every golfer for their tremendous effort to raise funds to improve healthcare in our communities.

The equipment that will be purchased with proceeds from the Charity Golf Classic is arranged with the healthcare facility in each community before the golf tournament. That list is put together based on the results of the previous year.

The members of the 2012 Charity Golf Classic Organizing Committee are: Chair, Jerry Jemieff of Key Chevrolet; Sheila Johnson of SaskTel; Don Bruner representing Mosaic Potash Esterhazy, Corvyn Neufeld for the Credit Unions of East Central Saskatchewan, Brandy Mitcshke of LDM Foods Inc., John Neufeld and Ross Fisher.