25th Annual Fellowship Housing Golf Outing Results
It was a beautiful, sunny day with no humidity for the 25th Annual Fellowship Housing Golf Outing on August 23rd. Ninety golfers and a dozen painters participated in the day’s events. Many others joined for dinner and the evening program, and still more of you joined us for the silent auction by bidding on-line. However you chose to join in, thank you for golfing, painting, dining and bidding for a purpose!
If you were there, you witnessed the excitement as our fearless Executive Director, Pam Orr, hopped into the helicopter and dropped 125 golf balls from the sky to determine our Helicopter Golf Ball Drop winner. Congratulations to Denise Nichols on winning the contest and receiving an Ultimate Chicago Helicopter Experience for two!
The Cars Ministry of Willow Creek Community Church also continued its Golf Outing Tradition of donating a car to a Fellowship Housing mom in need. As we all know, owning a car in the suburbs is not only necessary…it’s costly. For many moms applying to Fellowship Housing securing safe, reliable transportation (a requirement in order to be accepted) is a challenge. The ongoing partnership between Fellowship Housing and the CARS Ministry of Willow Creek Community Church has made it possible for over 25 moms to get into a safe, affordable vehicle. Every year at the Fellowship Housing Golf Outing, the CARS ministry gives a car to one of our moms!
This year’s car recipient, Morgan, is a hard working single mom with a beautiful 8 year old daughter. Her compassion for others is evidenced by the fact that she works at a non-profit and serves others. After suffering domestic violence and going through a divorce, she moved in with a friend for a year, but it was not
the best environment for her and her daughter. She desperately wants a better future for her daughter and to be in a healthier environment. She has no debt, but is unable to get a vehicle due to having no credit history and not enough money to purchase one on her own. This vehicle will enable her to have the stable transportation needed to get her to and from work and her daughter’s school. We are so thankful to the CARS Ministry for providing not only the vehicle, but also a sense of security for Morgan.
During the Golf Outing dinner program, graduated mom, Alexandria, bravely shared her story of how she moved from homelessness to hope during her two years in the program. She shared, “I was living paycheck to paycheck and never able to pay my bills on time,” as she and her three children did their best to survive in a home with a husband and father who struggled with alcoholism, drug addiction and adultery. They left, temporarily living with family, but knowing they couldn’t stay there forever. Fast forward to today – Alexandria was able to move her children into a stable environment in Fellowship Housing, pay off all her debt, save $20,000, and raise her credit score to 719, enabling her to graduate from the program and support her family safely and on her own. She says, “Fellowship has changed my life and I am forever grateful for everything [you] have done for my family.”
Pam shared about Fellowship Housing – why your generosity matters and what you do to change lives – and showed a video story about an incredible single mom who graduated from the program recently (see the preview video here– full video to be released soon). Emcee, Blaine Hogan, closed the evening by inviting everyone to give generously with a goal of $15,000 in mind to change the lives of even more moms in need . You shattered that goal, collectively donating $20,175!
Special thanks to Jeff Pajula and the whole staff at Stonewall Orchard for hosting the event, Board Member Mike Rolfs for his invaluable efforts as Golf Chairman, our Event Sponsors – The Rolfs Family, Fitzgerald Family and Hunter’s Ridge Apartments, and all Hole and Gift-In-Kind sponsors who made the event possible.
Because of your generosity, the event in total raised $85,000 to empower more homeless and at-risk single mothers in our community. Without you Fellowship Housing could not exist. Because of you lives are forever changed. Thank you for another unforgettable Golf Outing to empower homeless and at-risk single moms.
To see more photos from the event, visit the Facebook 2018 Golf Outing Album.
