From, left, Lydia Cook, Gwen Ramsay, and Valerie Fitzpatrick of the Victoria Golf Club.
The Donors: Members of the Victoria Golf Club
The Gift: $600,000 and climbing
The Cause: Victoria's Women's Transition House Society
The Reason: To support emergency women's shelters and services.
A few months ago the 600 members of Victoria's exclusive Victoria Golf Club made a significant change to a charity golf tournament the club has hosted for more than a decade.
The event used to be called the "Victoria Golf Club Ladies Annual Charity Tournament," but this year it became simply the "Victoria Golf Club Charity Tournament." The name change reflected the evolution of the fundraiser, from an event supported largely by the club's 120 female members into a club-wide initiative that raises more than $100,000 annually for the Women's Transition House Society, a local women's shelter.
"This is the organization we've chosen to stand behind," said Valerie Fitzpatrick, a club member and chair of this year's tournament, which took place June 23. "This is the only club-sanctioned tournament and we get numerous requests from different charities."
Ms. Fitzpatrick said the tournament not only gives members of the club, which charges $35,000 just to join, a chance to give back to the community, it also highlights issues that cut across socio-economic backgrounds. "A lot of people tend to think that family violence only occurs in lower economic households and that's just not the case," she said. "That's why the club chose this charity 11 years ago, to raise awareness that it isn't just for lower income groups."
The tournament started out as a small, women-only round of golf that raised about $10,000 every year. With help from several members, including David Schneider, it grew. This year's event pulled in about $103,000 and is by far the largest annual donation to the shelter. It's still a female-only round of golf, but many male members help out and donate.
"I really encouraged them to make the name change to signify that the whole club was behind it," Mr. Schneider said. He added that he got involved because family violence "is an area that men don't talk about and I just thought if we raised money it would have a significant impact to [the society's]bottom line."
Ms. Fitzpatrick is already planning next year's tournament and has drawn up a six-page list of improvements. "We're moving it toward an even more inclusive event," she said. "This isn't just a women's issue."
Paul Waldie