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Tournament raises $34K for High Fives Foundation

VAIL — On Sept. 1, the California-based High Fives Foundation hosted a charity golf tournament on the fairways at Vail Golf Club. Thirty teams of four competed for prizes. Between registration fees, silent auctions and open donations, over $34,000 was raised toward the mission of the High Fives Foundation. The nationally recognized nonprofit supports the dreams of mountain action sports athletes with life-altering injuries through board-approved grant funding toward their recovery goals. To date, the foundation has given support to 89 athletes from 20 states.

Five High Fives athletes were in attendance at the welcoming ceremony for the golfers: Megan Wemmer, Tim Burr, Bond Camp, Sally Franklyn and Steve Wallace.

“It was our first major event in Colorado, and we sold out the tournament way in advance,” said Roy Tuscany, executive director of the High Fives Foundation. “It is amazing to see our growth in regions across the country. Tournaments like these help us tell our story, and more, it directly benefits the athletes who need it.”



PHILANTHROPIC EFFORT

Helping athletes with life-altering injuries is a philanthropic effort that is very close to the Vail community. In April, 15-year-old Eagle student Kailyn Forsberg injured her spinal cord at the USASA National Free Skiing Championship at Copper Mountain. Since then, the community has rallied to raise funds toward her recovery. She is an athlete of the High Fives Foundation.

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Once the tournament results were tallied, all players and guests were treated to a celebratory dinner at the Vail Golf Club where activities included the putting contest finals, team awards and a silent auction. Colorado-based nonprofit the Foundation For Greater Good made a $10,000 match for all items sold at the silent auction. Some of items included a heliskiing trip with Canadian Mountain Heli, Colorado Rockies tickets and other packages donated by sponsors and local business.

The $10,000 match was initiated by Brian McCartney, chairman of the board of F2G2. He was eager to provide support after reading about Forsberg in the Vail Daily. F2G2 partners with nonprofit organizations to provide charitable support toward positive educational initiatives that advance the quality of life and independence of individuals with health-related issues. The High Fives Foundation and F2G2 have been in collaboration for two years, aligning to support athletes with life-altering injuries. Their match helped the High Fives Foundation raise $18,070 in the silent auction alone.

Overall tournament winners:

First place: Stormy Day Sales (55): Clem Smith, Todd Rash, Pete Pattison, Greg Ernst

Second place: Vail Fine Wine (56): Kevin Lawrence, Foster Gillette, Todd Mossa, Steven Teaver

Third Place: Outdoor Technology (57): Derek Pappas, Ben Welsch, Ben VanCurren, Tim Peterson

Contest winners:

Flop Wall Contest: Brian Willie

Putting Contest: Jason Landa

Baseball Long Drive: MacKenzie Hannah

Men’s Long Drive: David Oliver

Women’s Long Drive: Suzie Filla

Men’s Closest To The Pin: Davey Gonzalez

Women’s Closest To The Pin: Suzie Filla

Best Dressed: Kevin Lawrence


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