A fundraising golf tournament for the Children’s Wish Foundation is hanging up its clubs after 25 years and raising more than $1 million.
The 25th Annual Children’s Wish Golf Tournament was held on Thursday at Whitewater Golf Club and this year will be its last year.
“They decided they would end it on 25 and find other ways to raise money,” said Tiffany MacDonald, director of the Ontario chapter of the Children’s Wish Foundation. “Even though this tournament is ending, there will be other things that will take its place.”
The tournament was founded by Andrew Coffey and since the first tee-off, it has raised more than $1 million in support of the local Children’s Wish Foundation chapter.
“It seemed like a good cause,” Coffey said.
“Anytime you can help children, my gosh, that’s what it’s all about. They are very, very happy to be helped and they should be helped. That’s what it’s all about. It’s about the kids.”
The Children’s Wish Foundation grants wishes to children between the ages of three and 18 who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.
MacDonald said that this year there are five pending wishes in Thunder Bay, including a girl that wants to visit Disney Land, a boy that would like to see the Rocky Mountains, and three other kids who are still deciding on a wish.
It costs about $10,000 to make a wish come true and current chair of the Northwestern Ontario Children’s Wish Foundation chapter, David Jones, said the amount raised over the last 25 years has made a huge impact on the lives of kids going through such difficult experiences.
“To know that Andy and his crew have raised over $1 million, we are very proud of that,” he said.
“We are also proud that we have helped thousands of kids.”
Coffey added that helping so many kids throughout the past 25 years has been the most gratifying experience for him.
“It’s something that people don’t get a chance to do all the time,” he said.
“The fact that we get a chance to do this and make sure that the children are well taken care of.”
With the golf tournament wrapping up this year, the local chapter will be looking at other fundraising avenues moving forward to ensure that wishes are still granted in Thunder Bay.
“There will always be wishes in Thunder Bay,” MacDonald said. “I will sit down with the committee in Thunder Bay and decide what will be done.”
“We would like in the future to move it outside of golf,” Jones added.
“We are excited to do that. There are a lot of great ideas and a lot of people who want to help out.”
Jones said that working with Coffey has been one of the most rewarding experiences for him and he is hoping to carry on Coffey’s passion and keep moving things forward.
“Andy is an enigmatic man,” Jones said.
“He is also a persuader. He can get the crowd moving and getting people to move forward. He’s been exceptional at that. I’ve been proud to be involved.”
