Teaming up to tee off down south for annual charity tourney

Friday, Sep. 04, 2015

ST. GEORGE — The desire to feed the hungry and clothe the needy have led two southern Utah Catholic communities to combine their efforts in an annual golf tournament that brings in tens of thousands of dollars for charity.

Last year, about 100 golfers turned out for the “Driving for Charity” golf tournament sponsored by Saint George Parish in St. George and the Saint Paul Catholic Center in Hurricane, netting about $25,000, said Andy Beck, one of the organizers of this year’s event, which will benefit the Utah Food Bank Southern Distribution Center and the Assistance League of Southern Utah.

Spokespersons for both organizations said they are very grateful to benefit from the golf tournament.

“The need is huge here in St. George; last year with clothing and shoes we clothed 650 children, so this money would enable us to clothe more children,” said Martha Heuer, president of the Assistance League, a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization whose signature program provides new school clothing for children in grades kindergarten through ninth grade who live in financially disadvantaged households.

More than 5,000 children in Washington County live below the poverty level.

Another sign of the need in the southern part of the state is that the Utah Food Bank Southern Distribution Center last year distributed 4.8 million pounds of food throughout the area; the organization reports that every day in Utah, about 1 in 6 people are at risk of missing a meal.

The food bank shelves are particularly bare in this time of year, when children are out of school and don’t have access to the free lunch program, and many regular donors are on vacation, said Linda Trujillo, the food bank’s branch manager.

Because “the Utah Food Bank can translate $1 into $7.50,” a donation from the golf tournament “is a huge donation for us,” she said. 

Both nonprofits are first-time recipients of funds from the golf tournament; each year the organizing committee tries to choose a different beneficiary because “we don’t want it to become a fundraising event for any individual charity,” said Andy Beck, a co-chairman. 

Previous beneficiaries include the DOVE Center, Dixie Care & Share and the Southern Utah Veterans Home.

The two parishes also benefit from the tournament; proceeds help both churches continue their ministries and outreach programs.

Support for the tournament comes from the wider southern Utah community, with many local businesses and churches sponsoring holes or donating prizes, committee members said.

“I love the fact that we can reach faith and religious borders to show that we have more in common than we do differences,” said Judy Greene, a committee member. “I’m thrilled that we are reaching out, and it doesn’t matter what faith, it doesn’t matter what church, but the Catholics are part of the community and we want to show that it doesn’t matter.”

Although not a golfer, Greene says she has fun at the tournament; committee co-chairman Kevin Kaminski said the enjoyable experience he had playing last year for the first time in the tournament led him to get involved as a volunteer because of “the great fellowship – there were a lot of people from the parish, and they did a wonderful job with the packages, the prizes, the fundraising in general.”

Patty and John Simmerman, who have been involved with the tournament for many years, said Kaminski’s reaction is exactly what they hope for from those who come out for the day.

“We’ve made it fun for everybody that participates and they just keep coming back and playing, and getting involved in the tournament, which is what we want them to do,” John Simmerman said.

 The “Driving for Charity” golf tournament will be Saturday, Sept. 26 at the Ledges Golf Course, St. George. Tee time is 8:30 a.m. For information, visit http://thwitt8.wix.com/golftournament or call Andy Beck, 801-580-9336 or Kevin Kaminski, 435-879-9288.