The Airdrie Dads Facebook group raised over $32,000 during an annual golf tournament, with the proceeds being dispersed to three different Airdrie organizations – the BGC Airdrie Club; the Airdrie Food Bank; and the Nathan O’Brien Children’s Foundation, which supports disadvantaged children.
The eighth annual Airdrie Dads golf tournament was hosted on June 3 at the Collicut Siding Golf Club located in Crossfield.
“It originally started as an event for a bunch of dads just to get out golfing, have some drinks, have some fun,” said Airdrie Dads administrator, Jeremy Winterton. “It evolved somehow, somewhere along the way into the charitable event that we have today.”
According to Winterton, the tournament hosted 144 participants, the maximum possible amount of golfers the course and tournament could accommodate.
With each golfer paying a $150 entrance fee, which covered a round of golf and a banquet with a steak dinner, the group was able to raise over $32,000.
Each organization received $10,000, with the remaining $2,000 going back to the Airdrie Dads group to support in-house charitable efforts such as food hampers, throughout the year.
“The $10,000 donation is a huge, huge help to BGC Airdrie Club,” said Kathy Richter, manager of events, volunteers, and administration for the BGC Airdrie. “[The donation] will help to sustain our program services and resources that we provide to the children, youth, and their families in our beautiful community.
“We’re just very, very thankful for being one of the recipients again this year,” Richter said.
The Airdrie Dads Facebook group has over 3,600 members who help and support each other, Winterton said, adding the group will lend tools to each other and help fix broken-down appliances.
To join the group, interested dads can visit the Airdrie Dads Facebook page at bit.ly/3uRbT0A. The private group requires an application to join but Winterton said the application is to ensure the page remains free from scam accounts. He added it also verifies everyone in the group is from Airdrie.
Next year, Winterton is hoping to host more events and give back to even more charities.
“We’re all dads in the community and we just want to give back to the organizations that help this community grow,” he said.
Winterton, along with other Airdrie dads, started a not-for-profit organization, which is not associated with the Airdrie Dads Facebook group, called the 948 Charity Support Association about four months ago. With the organization still in its infancy, Winterton and his fellow board members are still working out the details but he said they have big ideas.
The over-arching goal of the 948 Charity is to organize events to raise funds and awareness about the charities in Airdrie, Winterton added.
“[It's] just a bunch of like-minded dads doing good,” he said.
