Monday morning was a beautiful day to enjoy the weather and a nice round of golf. The Valparaiso Schools Foundation hosted their eighth annual golf outing at the Valparaiso County Club. This event brought together teachers, community members, and anyone who loved the game of golf to pair up in teams of four for the outing.
Groups started out the event by dropping off their bags, signing in and enjoying some lunch before the event started.
“I’ve been working on the golf committee with Jason Schwartz for a number of years," said Rob Thorgren, president of the Valpo Schools Foundation Board. "We have this golf outing so that we can raise money for student scholarships and for teacher/classroom grants. This is our eighth year and it has been very successful event for us every time. We’ve increased our number of teams and given out a lot of prizes."
Teams played a 4-player scramble and had the chance to compete in various contests throughout the day. Contests included: closest to the hole, longest drive, and a hole-in-one contest sponsored by Berman's Infiniti. Prizes included $20,000 for the hole-in-one contest and other nice gifts.
“We have lots of people here including business owners and people who just love to play golf," said committee member Jason Schwerdt. "We have some people here who are the parents of the scholarship recipients supporting us. We give out $30,000 in scholarships to high school seniors and teacher grants so they are here to support that."
All of the money gathered goes to providing more scholarships and grants for the students of Valparaiso. It is important for the Valparaiso Schools Foundation to continue to help and support these students and their futures, Thorgren said.
“As a foundation, we know that teachers are in need of money for classroom projects and we also know that school is getting more expensive. It’s no time like the present for scholarships, so we keep doing events like this to help out," he added.
Various holes throughout the course were sponsored by different business and organizations in Valparaiso. Some sponsors include: Newton & Associates, Porter Health, Valparaiso First Insurance, Thorgren Tool and Molding, Berman’s Infiniti, and many more.
“We want to reinvest back into our kids in this community so that they will come back and be citizens of the future community. This event just brings the community together and the donations help see these seniors receiving the scholarships prosper with their future education,” said Lisa Hauser, COO of Valpo Schools Foundation.
The Valparaiso School Foundation had a successful day of golf and raising money for the students of their community. A little healthy competition brought together members of the community for an important event in supporting the future of Valparaiso citizens.