Thursday, June 9, 1 pm, Heron Ridge Golf Club
One of the greatest professional golfers of all time, William Ben Hogan, said, “The most important shot in golf is the next one.”
The Simon Family JCC applies that sentiment when planning their Annual Presidents’ Golf Cup Tournament, which raises funds to bring children’s activities and programs to life—year after year, shot after shot.
The specific JCC programs that benefit from the tournament are: Kids Connection, a before and after school program, which serves kids of all ages and backgrounds throughout the year, and Camp JCC.
Camp JCC is an enriching experience for children throughout Tidewater, and includes a special needs component, enabling those with developmental disabilities to enjoy all the activities of a summer camp experience.
The camp’s Shadow Program is fully inclusive, making it unique among the majority of area day camps where children with disabilities attend. The program gets its name from specially trained counselors, “shadows,” who provide extra support if needed.
John Strelitz, a past president of the Simon Family JCC, says of Camp JCC’s shadow program, “I think that it’s really, really important that children with special needs get an environment in which they can feel part of a bigger group.”
Proceeds from the tournament are responsible for maintaining and growing such programs.
Strelitz says he is always “blown away” by the way this tournament impacts the morale of the people in the Tidewater Jewish community.
“It’s a different environment. You can see people in a different venue and we can interact in a different way and build a team effort to raise money. Anytime you take a group of employees and volunteers and put them in a different place, it creates a certain bit of synergy, and I think that’s important,” he says.
“When I see the people from the JCC, I’m used to seeing them behind the desk, and then I see them out there, and it’s a great way of bonding with the staff and volunteers—all having a common goal to make this a better agency and to get better programming for the community.”
Registration for the Simon Family JCC’s 6th Annual President’s Golf Cup Tournament can be completed online at www.simonfamilyjcc.org/PresidentsCup.
For more information on how to volunteer, register, or participate in the tournament, contact Corrie Lentz, assistant director of development for the Simon Family JCC, at 757-321-2337 or CLentz@simonfamilyjcc.org.
by Gaby Grune