Atlanta golfers opened their hearts and wallets recently in support of TPRF’s “Food for People” humanitarian aid initiative.

Jeff Camp and Larry Sutton, both Atlanta residents, coordinated the event held at Bear’s Best golf course.  Golf Magazine ranks the site as one of America’s top ten golf courses open to the public.  Jack Nicklaus selected eighteen challenging holes from more than two hundred golf course designs from around the world to create an extraordinary experience for golf enthusiasts at Bear’s Best Atlanta.

Despite careful planning by the coordinators, the event almost failed to launch.  Thanks to generous donations from several key supporters, the tournament coordinators raised enough money to stage the event.  Only one problem remained—not enough golfers had registered to play.

With only a few days until the scheduled June 6^th tee off, Jeff and Larry came up with a last-minute strategy to save the tournament.  They placed an ad on Craig’s List offering a free round of golf at one of America’s premier golf courses with no strings attached.  Literally overnight, the golfing ranks swelled from twenty-four to thirty-six—enough to satisfy the group requirement set by the golf course.  The golf tournament and fundraising dinner afterwards came together “as if by magic,” said Jeff Camp.  Ten of the twelve golfers enrolled through Craig’s List gave spontaneous, unsolicited donations to TPRF.

In only its second year, the event introduced the work of TPRF to many area residents and businesses and raised four thousand dollars for the Food for People program. As an interesting side note, Jeff pointed out that six thousand dollars is the national average for funds raised by golf tournament charity events.

Seventy-one people attended the banquet dinner.  Everyone, including those previously unfamiliar with TPRF, enjoyed the Food for People video and the warm feeling engendered by the evening. Fascinated by the unique atmosphere generated by the event, Bear’s Best golf pro found it hard to leave, despite his plans for a date. “Who are you guys?” was his parting comment to Jeff. {sharethis}