Thursday June 23, 2022 | LANGFORD, BC [Last update June 28, 2022]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
At $175,000, today the 26th Langford Mayor’s Annual Charity Golf Tournament has surpassed even last year’s record donations. That’s all from sponsorships (people play to golf and advertise at the event).
People are getting back out into the community and out on the golf courses for tournaments again in larger numbers, after two years working around pandemic public health restrictions.
“It’s pretty exciting for us, $175,000,” said Langford Mayor Stew Young today. “And we’ll potentially raise $200,000 here today,” he told media. “We’ve come a long way from $8,000 raised at my first golf tournament 26 years ago,” said Young.
UPDATE June 27, 2022: The final total raised was over $202,000, confirmed by the City of Langford on June 27, 2022.
Golfing in two cohorts:
Today golfers took to the Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa golf course in two cohorts — 9-holes for one group in the morning followed by lunch, and one group playing 18 holes in the afternoon followed by a dinner. There are two Jack Nicklaus-designed courses at Bear Mountain — mountain and valley.
Live auction action happens at the lunch and dinner. Donation intake from the auctions could bring the total to $200,000 for this year’s fundraising intake. [Update to come]
“Kudos to all the people donating. They enjoy coming to the tournament and they have no problem giving for the causes that we have,” says Stew Young.
Sponsors:
- This year’s Title Sponsor ($15,000) is Seacliff Properties.
- Platinum Sponsors ($10,000) are Ironclad Developments, Jagpal Developments, Victoria Contracting, GFL Environmental Inc, Landvision group, and Westhills Land Corp.
- Gold Sponsors ($7,500) are Greater Victoria Sport Tourism Commission, WA Architects Ltd, Verity Construction, Slegg Lumber, Custom Pro Exteriors Ltd, Global Health Management, Golf for Kids Society, Allterra, Langford Heights Business Park, and Islander Engineering.
- Silver Sponsors ($5,000) are Accent Refrigeration, Beedie Industrial, Copcan, Keycorp, OnPoint Engineers Ltd, Rob Tournour Masonry, Southpoint.
- In-Kind Sponsors are Norman and Barbara Arden, Browns the Florist, Goldstream Gazette, Island Paving, Island Social Trends, Langford Lanes, Pacific FC, Sign Pad, The Good Party, Tabletop Rentals, The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa, Trend Decor Rentals, and YM-YWCA.
Where the money goes:
Within Langford and the region, the annual golf charity funds support a range of groups and organizations. There is always a strong representation of sports groups on the list.
This year the money is going to 41 charities. That includes Community Living Victoria, Rugby Canada, Sport Assist, Juan de Fuca Minor Hockey, Juan de Fuca Soccer, Westshore Junior Rugby Program, Goldstream Food Bank, Rebels Football, Youth Environmental Stewartship Program, Another Brick in Nepal, School District 62 Sports Programs, Grizzlies Hockey, Langford Minor Fastball, Nolan Riding, Langford Volunteer Firefighters Association, PACE Musical Theatre Academy, Langford Fire Dept Women’s Auxiliary, JDF Lacrosse, Malahat Nation, RCMP Auxiliary, Saunders Family Foundation, Westshore Basketball, Keep Girls in Sports, M’akola Housing Society, Langford Supports Ukraine Committee, Code Ninjas, Sports Expo Program, Victoria Conservatory of Music, Westshore Quilters Guild Charity Society, Wounded Warriors of Canada, Royal Canadian Legion 91, Mill Bay and District Conservation Society.
Ukraine on the list this year:
A $50,000 portion of the golf tournament donations will be applied to the amount that the Langford Supports Ukraine Committee is providing for a team of three Langford Supports Ukraine Committee representatives — Mayor Stew Young, former Langford Fire Chief Bob Beckett, and Global Medic volunteer Shawn Carby (plus a volunteer videographer) to go to western Ukraine for seven days.
In Ukraine they will guide the setup of a food sustainability operation in towns where it’s needed, based on guidance from GlobalMedic. Ahead of the trip, Young and his team have had Zoom calls with some of the mayors of towns in Ukraine as well as MPs and community officials, to get acquainted with what they’re heading into as far as helping refugees on the ground.
Mayor Young explained that golfers and sponsors donated “a bit more” this year, so that $50,000 could be used as part of the total $500,000 that is funding the Langford Supports Ukraine venture to Ukraine later this month.
Bombing of civilians in Ukraine has “touched a chord” with people here, said Young, and “they wanted to help in some way”. The $500,000 was raised within a week, for which Stew Young in particular thanks the development community but “we appreciate everybody who’s made this happen”.
Locally already (to June 8), Langford has welcomed at least 19 Ukrainian refugee families. The Langford Supports Ukraine Committee is supporting their transition to living in Canada.
Long-range goals:
Langford continues to expand the list of charities that it supports through the annual golf tournament. Helping kids afford sports activities is a constant thread.
Langford will be establishing an ongoing ‘sister city’ relationship with a yet-to-be-determined town (or towns) in Ukraine, to maintain ongoing supports. That was announced June 8.
Indoor/outdoor:
As the COVID pandemic still continues, outdoor events are workable. The splitting up of lunch and dinner at this year’s golf tournament is still based on public health guidance for indoor events. The same was done last year, also at Bear Mountain.
===== RELATED:
Langford mayor heading to Ukraine with GlobalMedic team (June 8, 2022)
Langford achieves $50,000 fundraising goal for Ukraine (May 6, 2022)
Support for Ukraine in Langford (April 5, 2022)
BC phone line to support displaced Ukrainians (April 4, 2022)
K-12 seats for Ukrainian refugees (March 14, 2022)
Horgan on Ukrainian refugee crisis: housing & K12 (March 11, 2022)
