The inaugural Surrey Hospice Society Charity Golf Tournament was a big success, says one of the organizers.
The Cloverdale District Chamber of Commerce and Surrey Hospice Society teamed up to host the event at Northview Golf & Country Club Sept. 13.
“It was a lot of fun and we raised a lot of money for a good cuase,” said Scott Wheatley, the Chamber’s executive director. “We didn’t have a full contingent of golfers, we wanted to have 144, but Northview was amazing and they really took care of us.”
Wheatley said the final numbers aren’t quite in, but he thinks they raised more than $10,000 for hospice.
Surrey Hospice, a non-profit organization that provides grief-support, free of charge, to the families of people that are terminally ill, will receive all of the money raised.
Wheatley added that this inaugural event will be followed up by their second annual charity golf tournament next September at Northview.
“Now that we have one under our belt, we’ll have time to promote the next one and make that one even more successful,” he noted. “The first one is always frightening.”
Wheatley said Sept. 13 was a beautiful day for golf and that everyone had a great time.
Wheatley also wanted to extend his gratitude on behalf of the Chamber and Surrey Hospice to everyone that played golf, volunteered, bought raffle tickets, donated, helped out in anyway, or sponsored the event.
“The best part was that it was all for such a great cause,” he said. “The money we raised was beyond our expectations and I can’t believe how incredibly generous everyone was.”
Rebecca Smith, the executive director of the Surrey Hospice Society, sent a message out to Chamber members before the tournament began.
“While participating, you’ll be helping the Surrey Hospice Society continue to deliver care to the most vulnerable in our community,” Smith wrote.
Wheatley explained that Surrey Hospice has lost 60 per cent of its revenue over the past year, but the demand for its services has increased by about 40 per cent.
For more info on the Surrey Hospice Society, visit surreyhospice.com.
For more info on the Cloverdale Chamber, visit cloverdalechamber.ca.