Swinging Fore Dreams

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Swinging Fore Dreams


for the past seven years the company i work for has put on a charity golf outing.
all the money raised is donated to The Dream Factory of St. Louis.
this year was my fifth year on the committee.
over the past seven years we have raised $250,000 - pretty awesome!
it's honestly a day i look forward to every may.
around april we are told about our dream family.  and the story makes me cry every year.
and the second i read the story i get the urge to want to raise more and more money.
this year we had jack.  a kid who has had juvenile diabetes since he was born.  his mom spoke at the outing saying how one little cut on his finger can turn into a nightmare for them so he always has to be cautious.  can you imagine being a kid and your whole life having to be cautious?  jack's original dream was to go white water rafting with his dad.  plans were in the making for this great dream trip.  that was until one afternoon this past fall, jack's dad wasn't feeling well that day and asked jack to drive him to the hospital.  his dad died the next day.
so here's jack, with a disease he will have for the rest of his life, and now the man of the house at 17.  and whole new weight of the world on his shoulders.  trying his best to be strong for everyone.
jack couldn't fathom going on the trip without his dad.  he settled for his second love, hockey, and him and the rest of his family were flown to Detroit for a red wings game and to meet all the players.  needless to say it was bittersweet.
jack also has a love for golfing.  so we though - perfect, let's ask him to play!
so jack played on monday and it was an amazing day!
we presented jack's family and the dream factory a check for $25,000 on monday.
i mean look at this picture - you can't help but smile.  i love it!
so not only did we have an awesome family, an awesome day and we donated a lot of money; but someone got a hole-in-one that day too.  and not just ANY hole-in-one.  we have two sponsored holes for the day.  on one hole you can win a lexus and on one hole you can win $10,000.  hey, go big or go home, right?
so here's a guy who literally JUST started playing golfing.  took a few lessons and his first course experience was monday.  second hole, fourth swing, BOOM - hole-in-one and $10,000!  amazing!
so here i am sitting at my desk the next day and my phone rings.  it's the guy who won the $10k.
i answer, we chat for a bit about his big winnings and he says, "i want to donate it all back to the charity!"
i go numb.  speechless.  and i cry.  how awesome.  how truly amazing!  what a great guy.
next thing he says, the news has gotten wind of the story and they want to do a special on it.
how fun!  so he invites us out to the golf course and gives us the details.  he asks me to contact the lady at the dream factory because he wants to personally give her the check.  perfect, let's make this happen.
i get off the phone with him and call bene.  she's the sweetheart second to the right in the picture above.
she cries.  i cry some more.  she keeps saying "no way, no way!  i need to sit down!"
i mean seriously, just how awesome.  i couldn't be more proud of the winner, for the dream family and to be part of such an awesome outing!
here's the news clip.
the news anchor said that day: what a great shot, what a great day, what a great humanitarian.
spot on.

7 comments :

Jackie said...

WOW....what an amazing thing! There really are good people in the world today!

Anonymous said...

Wow!!! First the story of the dream family then the extremely lucky golfer that donates it all back to charity how awesome!

Anonymous said...

Man oh man.... Now I am crying. Great story all around.

Lacie

sblind2 said...

I love feel good stories!!

Sara Simpson said...

Just awesome!!

Unknown said...

You are doing great things lady! This a wonderful story. Just when you think the world has gone crazy, an amazing man reminds us of how caring, thoughtful and selfless the human race can be. Sometimes we all need this little reminder. Thank you for making me smile and thank you for sharing this inspiring story. XOXO

Mary Cavalier said...

You are making miracles happen :-)