SVdP hosts its first-ever Golf-a-Thon!

By Bruce Cooper and Chris Peterson

St. Vincent de Paul held its inaugural Golf-a-Thon at the Bellair Golf Park in Glendale on September 24. 

It was far from your typical charity golf tournament. Instead, each participant was asked to raise $2,500 by collecting pledges from sponsors. 

Local corporations and businesses like Bell Bank, Bad Birdie, Sunland Asphalt and Bellair Golf Park were major players helping to raise $152,000 for this one-of-a-kind SVdP charity golf tournament. The money will be directed toward helping households avoid homelessness amid rising rent and utility costs.  

Maricopa County has had almost 90,000 evictions over the past 12 months, many being families with children. 

"When families become homeless, it's traumatic, it's expensive, and it takes a long time to get them back into housing," said Ryan Corry, SVdP's Chief Philanthropy Officer. "But if we can prevent homelessness in the first place, we avoid the trauma. It's so much more cost effective. About one thousand dollars per family is needed to help them stay in their homes."

Winners were determined on the total amount of money raised and on the number of holes completed throughout the day, but the big winners are the families facing housing instability. The success of the inaugural SVdP golf-a-thon has already stirred talk of making this an annual event, with ideas on making it even better!