If you are looking for ways to improve your golf game as summer segues into fall, you can take a mulligan with charity tournaments.
Supporters of Courtney’s Courage (pictured above last year) will mark the 24th Annual Tee Up for Tots Charity Golf Tournament on Friday, Aug. 25 at Sewailo Golf Club at Casino del Sol, 5655 W. Valencia Rd. Since inception, the tournament has funneled more than $1.1 million into pediatric cancer research at UArizona Steele Children’s Research Center and Family Assistance Programs. The golf tournament is one of several that benefit local children in need over the next few months.
First on deck is Courtney’s Courage 24th Annual Tee Up for Tots Charity Golf Tournament on Friday, Aug. 25, at Sewailo Golf Club at Casino Del Sol, 5655 W. Valencia Road.
A tradition among local charity tournaments, the event has raised more than $1.1 million with the purpose of funding childhood cancer research at the University of Arizona Steele Children’s Research Center and supporting kids and their families battling cancer.
“We started out thinking we would do this for a year and we are really proud of what we have done. We are a grassroots organization with no paid staff and no overhead and just a few incidental expenses, so all the money we raise goes to our programs and research. We are really proud that we are helping these families that need help — many of them desperately — in this difficult time,” said Kathy Zillman-Ogden, co-founder of the tournament and ambassador for Courtney’s Courage.
That help takes numerous forms, including financial assistance with rent, utilities, gas and other expenses. “Mom’s Dinners” provide evenings of support and camaraderie for the mothers of diagnosed children, and an annual “Bereavement Retreat” is geared to parents who have lost a child to cancer.
Other programs include “Courtney’s Angel Packs,” which launched in 2018 with help from Angel Charity for Children. These customized, themed admission bags for newly diagnosed children include pajamas, slippers and items personalized to each child. Another Angel Charity grant this year facilitated upgraded age-appropriate “Sibling Packs” for siblings of children undergoing treatment.
“Siblings often feel left out since all of the attention goes to the diagnosed child, which makes sense. We give the ‘Sibling Packs’ to the diagnosed child at the hospital and the child gives the packs to their siblings when they get home. It is kind of a thank you to the siblings for their support and it really means a lot to the parents and the sibling. They all think it is wonderful,” said Zillman-Ogden.
Ultimately, the nonprofit seeks to continue to expand programs to meet the needs of children and families and to facilitate research to eradicate pediatric cancers.
“We work hard to give back to families in the community that really need it. Cancer is something that no one signs up for,” Zillman-Ogden said.
Separate event for children’s advocacy
The Children’s Advocacy Center of Southern Arizona is another nonprofit geared to assisting children in need, and golfers can do their part by joining the Southern Arizona Children’s Advocacy Center 10th Annual Charity Golf Tournament on Sunday, Sept. 17 at Arizona National Golf Club, 9777 E. Sabino Greens Drive.
Proceeds from the event will support approximately 1,200 children annually who have been victims — primarily of physical or sexual abuse — or witnessed serious crimes such as homicide or domestic violence. The center provides a range of services and support for children and families, including advocacy, forensic interviews, counseling and child-friendly medical examinations.
These services are vital due to an increased intensity of cases in the past few years, said Marie Fordney, executive director.
“Every case of abuse is bad, but now we are seeing intense, involved, long-term cases that leave lasting physical and emotional harm that will take a long time to heal. We continue to be available 24/7 to provide services and connect families to services that will build these children up and help them heal in the weeks, months and years to come,” said Fordney.
She suspects the isolation affiliated with the COVID pandemic contributed to the serious cases they are treating. Despite the heartbreaking scenarios they see each day, Fordney said the center is a place of hope and healing.
“We get to watch kids transform before our eyes. They are stressed and have experienced possibly the worst thing that has happened to them, but we help them with interviews and medical exams and they start to heal. They start to play again and right before our eyes they turn back into kids,” she said.
Reporter Henry Brean filmed this coyote chorus at Crooked Tree Golf Course on Dec. 27, 2022.
