Duane Hicks
The local RBC branch is looking for a charity to partner with for its upcoming golf tournament here in June.
In its sixth year, the RBC charity golf tournament previously has helped raise funds for the Riverside Foundation for Health Care and the Fort Frances Community Chest.
Now it is seeking other charities to help out.
Local RBC spokesperson Lisa Plourde said the branch here took a cue from the one in Dryden, which opened up its golf tournament to let registered charities in that community come to the RBC if they were interested in partnering for the fundraiser, as opposed to having the bank choose on its own.
“You want your money to go where it’s going to mean the most in the community,” Plourde remarked, adding that perhaps RBC staff are not aware of which registered charities are out there and which ones need the most help.
Having the charities themselves step forward helps in that regard.
Plourde said the chosen charity will be required to provide some volunteers to work with RBC staff to organize the golf tournament, which tentatively is slated for Saturday, June 23 this year.
“We get a small board together and plan it together,” she explained.
“We’re hosting it, but it’s definitely a partnership with the planning and the execution of it, and in the end they receive the profits of it,” added Plourde.
Last year, the golf tournament was put together by three or four RBC staff and three representatives from the Fort Frances Community Chest.
The tournament has proven popular over the past five years. It usually draws about 100-150 people, and has raised an average of $5,000-7,000 a year.
“It’s a fun tournament—you don’t have to be a professional or anything like that,” Plourde stressed.
“It’s all about the fun, and raising money for the charity.”
The tournament’s inaugural year helped raise money for the CT scanner at La Verendrye Hospital here.
The second year it raised money for breast cancer research, and the third and fourth years it helped raised funds for the palliative care room at La Verendrye Hospital (which also was paid for through other community donations).
Then last year, funds were raised for the Community Chest, which helps district families facing medical expenses.
Plourde stressed interested parties must be a registered charity (i.e., have a charitable number).
Any registered charity interested in partnering for the RBC charity golf tournament must submit a letter to local branch manager Heather Johnson by Thursday, April 5.
