The latest Fore the Cure event was held on Aug. 26 in Sarnia, Ont. with 160 players.Getty Images/iStockphoto
The gift: Raising $1-million and climbing
The causes: Bluewater Health in Sarnia, London Health Sciences Centre
When Pam Kohlmeier lost her four-year battle with breast cancer in 1992, her friends and family banded together to find some way of honouring her legacy.
"We were with some friends and one of them said, 'What are we going to do about this?'" recalled her sister-in-law Denise Kohlmeier, a retired teacher who lives in Sarnia, Ont. "And my brother-in-law and my husband are golfers and they said 'Well, I think we'll run a golf tournament.'"
That launched the annual Fore the Cure golf tournament, which began in 1992 and has since raised $1-million in total. The latest event was held on Aug. 26 in Sarnia with 160 players. Proceeds go to the mammography unit at Bluewater Health in Sarnia and a breast cancer research unit at the London Health Sciences Centre.
"It's a way to continue her legacy and to keep her strength and her grace and her loving spirit alive," said Ms. Kohlmeier, who added that the event is especially important for Pam's husband, Guy, and their two children. "It will be a long [day], but it's full of joy and hope."
Paul Waldie