Charity golf tournament supports local students

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A charity golf tournament was held at the Strathmore Golf Club on Aug. 19 hosted by Project HOPE to raise money for local schools.

Linda Tucker, coordinator for Project Hope, said the dollars raised through the tournament, with the goal of being $10,000, are going towards schools within Wheatland County.

“We’re so excited because we are doing our second annual Project HOPE golf tournament and all of the dollars raised today go to help our children in our Wheatland County schools with music therapy and adaptive physical education.”

Tucker explained Project HOPE is an organization that works in collaboration with the Golden Hills School Division (GHSD) to provide students with funding to help implement therapy for children who may have some exceptionalities in learning or their development.

Ordinarily, Project HOPE hosts a gala every spring to supplement their fundraising. Chair Samantha Almer said the golf tournament was established as a substitute during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We’ve been very fortunate that we’ve been creative and done other things throughout the year, like a 50-50 [draw] and an online silent auction. This community has stepped up for us which has been amazing,” she said.

Almer added this year’s tournament had nearly doubled in the number of golfers who showed up to play this year over the previous run. Nearly 90 came out to play with 15 community sponsors backing the event.

“We’ve got more people out… more people working to support the kids so that they can have these vital therapies that make such a huge difference and help them live up to their full potential.”

“Being able to put this together, one of the best things is just getting our community together, especially after this whole year-and-a-half that we’ve all had to navigate,” said Almer.

The goal for next year is to encourage over 100 golfers to come out. Further, Project HOPE also hopes to bring back their spring gala for 2022.

“All dollars raised for these therapies come from fundraising alone… so we have to count on the generosity of the community and donations,” said Tucker.

Project HOPE will be hosting a small online auction in Oct. and is encouraging the community to keep an eye on their social media platforms for more details to come.