The 2011 Holes for Heroes™ Fundraiser presented our 5th anniversary Holes for Heroes event on Friday, October 14th at "Fort Lomas" (aka Lomas Santa Fe CC, Solana Beach)!
Thanks to all player participants and our Major Sponsors: iTech, Union Bank, Jack-in-the-Box, Coca-Cola Refreshments, Sunroad Auto Group, GRAY DOG PARTNERS, The Loftus Family, Carleton Management Co., Kansas City BBQ, LANG and ASSOCIATES, CPAs, WAXIE, Sycuan and others Holes for Heroes was a huge success!
We had the largest number of players ever (172), more auction items than ever, more military wounded / Combat Vets playing than ever (29) including two single leg amputees (one of whom really crushed the ball!), more military static displays than ever and raised more money than ever!
The support from the US Army Recruit Company - San Diego and Wounded Warrior Transition Team personnel, the static displays and participation by some 29 wounded / Combat Vets from the Wounded Warrior Battalion West (Camp Pendleton) and Balboa Hospital helped make Holes for Heroes the most special event ever for us and probably in the region!
We netted over $105,000 (the largest amount ever) but more importantly, the opportunity for the community to play golf with and to honor our wounded troops at the dinner (along with some of their wives and children) and say, "Thank you" – up close and personal was most rewarding! We were also blessed with a widow and her 5 year old son in attendance.
CA Assemblyman Martin Garrick attended our dinner and presented us with a special citation to Holes for Heroes in recognition of all we and this community are doing to help our wounded Heroes, front line troops, children and families of deployed troops and KIAs and recovering Vets! As he put it, "the energy in the room was infectious".
What makes Holes for Heroes so special for the wounded / Combat Vet military participants is that while they know the community supports them, they don't often get the opportunity to actually participate. At Holes for Heroes they do get to participate, to feel and share the support from the community – up close and personal! Thank you for making Holes for Heroes a fabulously rewarding experience for our Hurting Heroes too!
We set up our beneficiaries around the course so players can see where their money goes. One, James Clark of Guide On supports children and families of KIAs via his summer camp in Montana. There are 9,000 children of KIAs in the US since 9-11 and we need to help Guide On serve these kids.
We can support entities to help find cures, we can help support our wounded, but NO one can bring back the Dad a child and wife lost in combat.
So, at dinner we launched a sustaining funding challenge for Guide On called '100/100' or '100/500'. This is an opportunity for 100 companies, managers, employee's giving group or foundations or just us individuals to pledge and have automatically sent to Guide On $100/mo (or whatever amount is comfortable). A very small amount of money from 100, 200 or 500 sources to guarantee sustainable funding for their most important mission – caring for the children and families of KIAs. We had 16 people accept that challenge and/or sponsor a child to go camp Guide On for a week!
Please read the quote from the child of a KIA and extract from James Clark below and attached poem. Let me know if you would like to become a sustaining member of Camp Guide On!
"The widows and kids know that they are not alone nor forgotten when I tell them about how much …(Holes for Heroes) continue(s) to provide. When Matt was killed in Iraq and his youngest son Luke was told that his Daddy was not coming home, Luke said "but I wasn't finished playing with him yet". You, your family, friends and the Rotary Club (Foundation) have helped us continue to play with these kids whose father did not come home."
For me and many others, Guide On is where the rubber hits the road! I have invited the PGA Tour to add Guide On as a beneficiary of their 'Birdies for the Brave' program. We can't do too much for our troops!
Our Holes for Heroes events have now raised almost $400,000 with more than 100 wounded military participants and unknown numbers of children and families ! We have found that the community-at-large wants to help our wounded military, front line troops, military families, children and families of KIAs (killed in action) but don't know how or whom to trust. The Rotary Foundation is a known and trusted platform. We are 100% all volunteer, with no paid staff or fixed salaries ensuring that 100% of the monies raised goes to our beneficiaries.
BTW, there will be a Holes for Heroes event in Orange County on Monday, May 21, 2012 presented by the Irvine Rotary Club. In addition, Holes for Heroes events were and will continue to be held in Las Vegas presented by the Las Vegas Rotary and in the Chicago area by the Winnekta-Northfield Rotary. In addition, we have interest from Denver and Washington DC area Rotary Clubs.
I would also like to thank Lomas Santa Fe CC, members and staff for their support and participation, the US Army Recruit Company, San Diego and to XETV – SD 6 and NBC 7/39 for their promotion and coverage. Like our daughter says, "It was a good one"!
Next year's Holes for Heroes event is scheduled to be held on Friday, October 12, 2012 at "FORT LOMAS"! Sign up early! Visit www.holesforheroes.org for updates.
OOORAH!
David P. Ferguson
Holes for Heroes
The San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary Club Foundation is a 501(c)(3) Not-For-Profit Organization, EIN: 33-0596091. P.O. Box 80336, San Diego, CA 92138-0336.
Holes for Heroes and the Holes for Heroes logo are trademarks of the San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary Club, and is used under license by the San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary Club Foundation.
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