GREENFIELD — The Franklin County Jail and House of Correction generated about $1,500 a year when it started holding a golf tournament to benefit the Recorder’s annual Warm the Children charity.
The fundraiser has only grown since then, and this year Franklin County Sheriff Christopher Donelan presented a check for $20,000 to the campaign that provides children with items like a winter coats, a fleece sweatshirts, underwear, socks and thermal underwears.
Norma Lovett, executive administrative assistant at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, said the tournament on May 13 featured 152 golfers. She said 80 percent of participants are local, though some come from miles away.
“It’s a tournament that I have a waiting list for. People love to golf in it. We have excellent raffle prizes and we’re always looking for new sponsors — that’s where we make the money,” she said, adding that there were about 60 sponsors this time around. “This was the biggest year we’ve ever had.”
Lovett said she took over organizing the tournament 12 years ago.
Kevin Piecuch, the PGA head golf professional at the Country Club of Greenfield, where the tournament was held, said the event was well received by participating golfers.
“It’s always a great event and Norma does a great job running it,” he said. “It’s a great fundraiser for a great cause.”
Lovett said she starts planning for the tournament in January and it is typically booked by February, with a lengthy waiting list.
She mentioned this year’s tourney appeared to be in jeopardy when it was discovered batteries had been stolen from 32 golf carts at the country club. This was reported in a police log in the Recorder on May 16. Lovett explained remaining carts were prioritized to people who truly needed them, while others volunteered to walk the course.
“Everybody was great. ‘I’ll walk,’ ‘No problem, I’ll walk,’” she recalled golfers saying. “It’s just a great bunch of people that golf. I just can’t say enough about them.”
Lovett said the problem was resolved and everyone had a cart by 10:30 a.m.
The Warm the Children drive is supported by partners Wilson’s Department Store and Community Action, and funded through community donations of money and clothing. Children are selected by Community Action, a nonprofit that helps support lower-income families. Wilson’s provides clothing racks and purchases the clothing with the donations, and The Recorder, which created the charity locally more than 20 years ago, spearheads the fundraising efforts. Together, they operate a store over three days in the fall. All the money goes to buying the clothes. The sponsoring organizations absorb all the overhead so that all the money raised goes directly into purchasing clothes.
The main fundraising drive begins in September with the clothes from last year’s funds given out well ahead of the winter season. A thousand children get about $80 to $100 worth of clothing each.
If you have plans for a fundraiser for Warm the Children, or a story about how the campaign helped you or someone you know, let us hear about it, so we can let everyone else know. Contact Domenic Poli at dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.