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Kootenay Lake Hospital Foundation cements new partnership

Another great local partnership has been solidified thanks to a Friday golf tournament held at Granite Pointe.
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Members of the Foundation and Selkirk Paving pose for the cheque presentation.

Another great local partnership has been solidified thanks to a Friday golf tournament held at Granite Pointe.

The Kootenay Lake Hospital Foundation has been running a summer golf tournament fundraiser for more than a decade, but the last few years have been a struggle to garner enthusiasm amongst the volunteers and participants.

“It has been difficult for the last couple of years for this event,” said Foundation chair Pat Dooley. “It is a lot of work for the events committee and we were not sure if we were going to do a golf tournament.”

Back in March, Tony Maida from Selkirk Paving/Nelson Ready Mix was in a provincial manager’s meeting for the large contractor. The company wanted to step up its already considerable charitable community contributions.

Maida was put in charge of organizing the Nelson area golf event and the charity of choice was immediate.

“It was one of my mom’s favourite organizations so when they asked me to look after getting a golf tournament going, it was an easy choice for me because the Kootenay Lake Hospital Foundation was so important to her,” said Maida, whose mother Emma passed away from cancer late last year. “It’s not only important to my family, but so many others in this community.”

Maida went to work forming a committee for the tournament that included Bryna Idler of the Foundation, Russell Stocks (SPL), Sean Rokosh (SPL general manager), Rob Little (19th Hole Public House), Denny McArthur (Granite Pointe), Monty Fredickson (Granite Pointe), Danny Rickaby (19th Hole Public House) and Calvin Ward (Granite Pointe).

The goal of the tournament was make it an invitational for SPL/Nelson Ready Mix suppliers locally and across BC. They also invited companies who came on as gold, silver and bronze sponsors. In a few short months they put together 40 sponsors for the tournament.

On Friday when the total was added up, a cheque for $30,000 was cut for the Foundation.

“That was our target at our initial meeting, between $20,000 and $30,000,” Maida said. “Once again the community stepped up to the plate. Maybe next year our goal will be $50,000… I’ve had a lot of positive feedback in the last couple of days.”

Dooley and the Foundation were extremely pleased with the final total.

“It was an amazing event and the volunteers on the board are absolutely thrilled with the outcome,” she said. “It wasn’t a lot of work for the [Foundation] volunteers, yet there was a huge reward at the end.”

Dooley said a cheque for $30,000 is “significant” for the Foundation’s annual targets. The two previous Foundation tournaments raised only $11,000 (2012) and $15,000 (2011).

“These kinds of partnerships are so important to our community,” said Dooley. “It says a lot about the values of the company. They want to give back to the community in recognition of the support they get.”

Selkirk Paving has been a strong supporter of local sports teams and other charities. Earlier this month, the SPL team raised $15,000 for the annual ALS Walk at Lakeside Park and back in May the SPL team raised the second most money at the high powered Ronald McDonald House charity golf tournament in Kelowna.

“Our goal for many years has been to give back to the community and that is what we do,” said Maida. “We try to help out where we can.”

Maida and Dooley said the format used in last week’s scramble golf tournament will likely be employed for the 2014 event.