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Tournament raises money for the cancer ward at Vanderhoof hospital

Annual golf scramble and auction raises $5,000
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The winners of the Vanderhoof Golfer’s Association annual scramble fundraiser, with low gross, Sydney Siemens, Ashley Howe and Randi Kuharchuk. (Photo courtesy Cindy Daley)

The oncology department at St. John’s Hospital has $5,000 to invest in patient care thanks to the Vanderhoof Golf Club.

According to Cindy Daley, director of media, the annual summer fundraiser has been held for at least a decade.

“It’s always been exclusively going to the oncology ward and then what they choose to do with it,” said Daley.

“It’s a cause near and dear to a lot of our hearts. Everybody that we know has had something to do with cancer in and around our area. It’s really important to us that our oncology ward has everything that it needs. They can’t do it for themselves.”

The fundraiser takes the form of a golf scramble tournament, followed by a raffle.

“Every year somebody makes a quilt; it’s usually the hospital guild or the auxiliary. The quilt gets raffled off after golf on that Wednesday night and they make a lot of money off of it usually,” said Daley, adding that the ladies also contribute items for a silent auction or door prizes, along with contributions from local businesses.

“And so it winds up raising quite a bit of money usually,” she said.

Unlike many events, the group didn’t need to cancel their event during the height of COVID.

“We got really lucky because it turns out golf is one of the very few sports that you can actually do during a plague. You’re able to actually go out because you’re outside and as long as you’re not handing sticks across to each other or sharing drinks,” said Daley. “Being out in the open air was really nice. And we were able to do the actual scramble, and then do the auction and everything online.”

They are happy, Daley added, that things are getting back to normal.

Even though COVID is still a concern, she said, it’s nice to gather again.

“For the most part, everybody’s just kind of happy enough to be back together,” she said.