Capital Region Cares Capital Region Cares 2017-2018 | Page 144

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Success story
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g game
SACRAMENTO ROTARY
FOUNDATION’S ANNUAL
GOLF 4 KIDS EVENT
p h oto : co u rt e sy o f s ac r a m e n to rota ry fo u n dat i o n
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CAPITAL REGION CARES 2017 | comstocksmag.com
BY Robin Epley PHOTO: Ken James
T
his story starts back in 1922.
That’s the year when a small
group of Sacramento-based
doctors
combined
their
professional connections and their
Rotary Club memberships to form
a program that is now the longest-
running Rotary fundraiser in the
country.
Those Sacramento Rotarian doc-
tors started a fundraising event to
provide medical services and braces
for orthopedically-challenged chil-
dren. Then, beginning in 1986, the
fundraiser became an annual golf
tournament. In 2005, it was renamed
“Golf 4 Kids.” Today, Golf 4 Kids is a
successful fundraiser supporting the
differently-abled children’s programs
at four local schools: Ralph Richard-
son Center, Luther Burbank High
School, Fern Bacon Middle School
and Bowling Green Charter School.
The Rotary Foundation, which or-
ganizes the event, is the charity arm
of the Sacramento Rotary Club. In
1922, when the fundraiser was just
a club-sponsored event, members
raised just over $1,900 (the equiva-
lent of nearly $3 million today), and
the event has distributed more than
$4 million since it began. When the
foundation was incorporated in 1971,
the annual event became a founda-
tion fundraiser. Last year, members
raised $39,317.
“I think it ref lects a clearly de-
fined need in the community,” says