Building Community Partnerships: Mixed Stix Charity Fundraiser

How has this idea enhanced your club's operation, etc.?

This year, Fiddler's Elbow raised the bar with our 2nd Annual Mixed Stix Charity Fundraiser, our club wide event that features golf, tennis, paddle, fly fishing, and culinary events. The event is hosted by our trustees and the R&C Donovan Family Foundation, with monies raised going to improve the lives of children in need. The three beneficiaries were Tri-County Scholarship Fund, New Jersey Golf Foundation, and Cure for IBD.

This year's event expanded to include other area clubs competing in a golf pro-am, a tennis round robin, and an Iron Chef competition where a member of a club served as a sous chef to their club's Chef. Additionally, Mixed Stix has grown to be one of the largest purses offered to golf professionals in the state. This year's winner took home $5,000.00. But the big winners are the kids and families impacted. Monies raised will be used to provide academic scholarships to deserving underprivileged youths, kids with special needs, those suffering with IBD and Crohn's Disease, and to introduce the game of golf and its valuable life lessons to inner city kids.

How was this idea implemented, and what have been the club members' reactions?

This is the second year that we have hosted the Mixed Stix Charity Fundraiser and it has grown exponentially since its implementation. This has become one of our largest member-driven fundraising events that we do annually where both our members and members of other regional clubs turn out in large waves to lend their support. The community is proud to be able to lend aid to such deserving causes.