St. Mary of the Lakes Knights of Columbus Council 6520 hosted its 13th annual charity golf tournament at Medford Village Country Club on Nov. 21, raising $55,500 for 1st Way of Burlington County, Family Promise of Burlington County, and Medford’s Society of St. Vincent de Paul, organizations that treat every man, woman, and child with respect, dignity, and compassion.
“When we were forced to postpone our June 8th event due to the COVID-19 crisis, we immediately understood that the needs throughout our communities were going to increase, and the organizations that we support were being overwhelmed,” said Council 6520 Past Grand Knight and Event Chairman Don Bouchard. “We rescheduled our event for late October with the hope that businesses and facilities would open up. We took it day by day, maintaining our focus to raise as much funding as possible to support these vital organizations.”
The event had 31 sponsors and 65 boosters, including:
– The Law Office of David J. Karbasian, PC (Event Sponsor)
– Miles Technologies (Event Sponsor)
– Zallie’s Fresh Kitchen at ShopRite of Medford (Event Sponsor)
– Holman Enterprises (Platinum Sponsor)
“We are also grateful to our seven Gold Sponsors, four Silver Sponsors, 16 Bronze Sponsors, local merchants who donated items for the raffles and prizes, local golf courses that donated foursomes for auction, member Knights, golfers, and volunteers who ‘chipped in for charity’ to make our annual tournament an overwhelming success,” added Bouchard. “And we were thrilled to have the maximum 136 registered golfers and representatives from each organization for the awards presentation and a wonderful dinner.”
Eric Dodson, Matt Donnelly, Jeff Hahn, and John Rath won the tournament, which also featured a continental breakfast, cocktail hour, dinner, live auction, and raffle. Individual winners were Dave Kohut (longest drive), Larry Seibel (putting contest), and Randy Thompson (closet to the pin).
The Knights of Columbus is the world’s largest Catholic lay organization. Dedicated to the principles of charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism, the Knights provide members and their families with volunteer opportunities for service to people of all backgrounds.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a Catholic lay organization that allows women and men to join together to grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to those who are needy and suffering. Over the past year, the Medford Conference has helped more than 29,452 men, women, and children with spiritual assistance and food, clothing, and financial help for rent and mortgage, auto insurance, utilities, health care, and other expenses valued at about $385,000.
Family Promise of Burlington County is a non-profit interfaith organization committed to a united outreach by the religious community in Burlington County providing shelter, meals and assistance to homeless families. The program provides help, hope and a safe haven for guests while they seek affordable housing. Since 1998 Family Promise has hosted about 430 families totaling more than 1,400 individuals, including about 900 children.
1st Way of Burlington County helps any woman or girl with an unplanned pregnancy find medical, legal, or psychological help as well as shelter, education, or adoption guidance. 1st Way believes in the sanctity of life, all life – the life of the mother as well as the life of the baby. 1st Way provides free resources which support life affirming choices. This is accomplished through a loving, non-judgement approach with peer counseling, education, and practical services. Over the past year, 1st Way has served over 2,700 families.
