Foundation, POA to host Golf FORE Charity
The Bella Vista Foundation and Bella Vista Property Owners Association are working in unison to host the second annual Golf FORE Charity event to raise money for local charities. The event will be held Wednesday, May 22 with a silent auction to take place from May 22 to May 25.
Bella Vista Foundation President Ann Dahlke and Vice President Charlie Teal said the golf event, which is not a tournament, will take place on several different Bella Vista courses with greens fees to be collected for fundraising. Dahlke clarified entry fees are not required.
“It’s like any other day of golf,” Dahlke said. “You have a golf group that golfs on Wednesday, that money will go towards our event.”
“The golf event is on all seven Bella Vista POA golf courses,” Teal said. “People sign up to play golf, and what the POA does is allocate the greens fee that each golfer would have paid and collect all those fees, and those monies are contributed by the POA to the Bella Vista Foundation and will then be distributed to the five selected charities here in Bella Vista.”
Charities that have been chosen this year include the Bella Vista Animal Shelter, Bella Vista Boys and Girls Club, Bella Vista Community TV, Bella Vista Courtesy Van, and the Bella Vista Historical Society. Dahlke added funds collected for the charities will be divided evenly amongst the five of them.
Golfers can also make donations while golfing through the “Sock it to me” collection.
“There is a collection mechanism called ‘Sock it to me,’” Teal said. “What that involves is each of the golf carts that are used by golfers on May 22 will have a sock with a little message attached to it. The message encourages golfers that are participating to take any loose change or money that they want to contribute as part of this event and put it in the sock.”
Dahlke noted the “Sock it to me” collection last year brought in over $3,800.
In addition to golfing, a silent auction and wine tree will be available at the Bella Vista Country Club. Dahlke said the auction features at least 100 items. Dahlke added individuals can place bids or pay a “take it with me price” in which they can pay outright for an item without having to wait for bidding and the auction’s conclusion.
“People can become involved by coming to the country club, coming to the silent auction, and putting their name down and bid,” she said. “Or, we have a ‘Take it with me’ price. So, if there’s something that they really, really want they can pay that ‘Take it with me price’ right then and there and take it.”
The silent auction will take place Wednesday through Friday, May 22-24, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday, May 25, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Dahlke said the wine tree also helps raise funds for charity.
“We have a wine tree set in front of the fireplace at the country club,” she said. “For $20, you get a cork with a number on it and that number corresponds with a wine bottle on the wine tree.
So, for a $20 donation you get a bottle of wine. There is room for 120 bottles of wine on that tree.”
Last year’s Golf FORE Charity brought in nearly $41,000 with Dahlke and Teal noting they hope to raise even more this year as additional businesses have become involved.
Dahlke said the event is designed to support the community.
“It helps the charities that submit grant requests and I think it’s very important to support the community,” she said.
Teal added the event is in line with the overall goals of the foundation, which was established in 2012.
“The Bella Vista Foundation has an objective to participate in activities and programs that benefit the Bella Vista community,” he said. “And each of the local charities have a significant role in some aspects and some activities in the Bella Vista community.”
Teal added Golf FORE Charity is “a labor of love” for the foundation, “but a significant benefit to the local charities that obviously need support.”