Norm Noble
In the greater Chandler area with its multiplicity of retirement communities, there are only a few months in the year when charity events can be staged. That’s because of the snowbird and rainbird exodus to other parts of the U.S. and Canada leaving in April, returning in October. Service clubs like Rotary compete against others for attention and participation.
The Sun Lakes Rotary has two major fund raisers a year; the Pancake Breakfast in November and the Charity Golf Tournament in March. It is with that as a preface that we announce our upcoming 22nd annual Charity Golf Tournament on Sunday, March 22. The event will be held at Oakwood Country Club with a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m. followed by dinner in the Oakwood Ballroom. Foursomes are already being formed; individual play including dinner is $99; dinner only is $35.
A full field of 144 players is expected this year as several women’s foursomes are being formed to challenge the men. The primary beneficiary of this event is Rotary’s Dictionary Project that provides dictionaries to every third grader in the Chandler Unified School District. Since the inception of this project, the Sun Lakes Rotary has given over 27,000 dictionaries to Chandler third graders.
Throughout the year, the Club heavily supports other educational needs of the Chandler Unified School District, as well as charitable causes throughout the East Valley and the world. This includes CHOICES, a program for high school freshmen to keep them in school; sending students to RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Camp); scholarships for deserving students in the Boys and Girls Clubs of the East Valley, as well as Hamilton and Chandler High School students; scholarships for Hamilton and Chandler High School students to attend the World Affairs Seminar in Wisconsin; and the Chandler/Hamilton Infant Daycare Program—mentoring young mothers to continue studying hard and graduate from high school. The club also supports Neighbors Who Care, and PolioPlus—the effort to eradicate polio from the world.
Giving to charity is the whole point. It’s an outreach to help those who need your help. Sure, you can play golf and eat a good dinner for a little less than $99 if you shop around. But can you transform a life while you’re doing it? Don’t think so.
Seriously consider stepping outside your box and sign-up for this tournament. It’s easy. Contact Don Bell at 480-802-9559. If you are a single or a couple, no problem. He will place you in a foursome.