Friday, December 10, 2010

Hope Open

So I officially got everything finished up with the Hope Open this last week, I guess that means I should post about how it went.

If you don't know, The Hope Open is a disc golf tournament that I directed on October 30th with all funds raised benefiting the American Cancer Society. The event had a good turn out, I was pretty worried about making ends meet the week before when there wasn't even half as many signed up as ended up showing up to the event.

This was my second year running this event, and every year I get to witness how amazing people can be in support of a good cause. One person was telling me how important this event was to them, her dad had gone through cancer and treatment and was deemed clear of it this year, but it was a hard process to go through. She assumed that I must have been touched by this disease in some dramatic way to be putting on this event.

The truth is, I am blessed to be healthy and have a healthy family. My grandpa last year went through cancer treatment, but is doing very well now. The people in my life that are affected with cancer have been at a distance from me, so I haven't had to feel the pain that so many people have. I am thankful for that, because I know that day may come sooner than I hope. I love being able to put this simple, fun event on and have people bring the meaning into it.

There was a couple of guys who came down to play, and were so excited to play that they wore pink, brought pink cupcakes for everyone, and bottles of water! It was wonderful seeing them get so excited about raising money for this event. A brother and sister donated a pair of Blazer tickets to the raffle, which was wonderful! The raffle this year was astonishing with how much stuff people and businesses donated.

Honor Signs is the other place where I get to find out more about the people in the disc golf community. These Honor Signs are the signs at each tee that are dedicated to people in our lives who have been touched by cancer. People who couldn't make the event donated signs, and people who were at the event donated signs. I think that when we view the little circle of our life, we think that cancer has touched us in a big way. When you walk through the disc golf course and see all of these signs, it is plain to see that so many lives have been touched.

The Hope Open ended up raising over $2,000 for the American Cancer Society! It was a great event and I look forward to doing it again next year!

Here are some lovely photos that Jennifer M was gracious enough to come and take! They turned out wonderful!













I have some left over shirts, discs, and towels if you are interested in contributing! All the money from this will go towards next year's event :)




(The other benefit of running this event is coming up with a creative logo design!)

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