Zach Myhre, Glenn Smith, Perry King and Paul King had fun playing the Cops for Kids Charity Golf Tournament at Kelowna’s Black Mountain Golf Club Thursday.

(STACY PAVLOV / iNFOnews.ca)

The driving force behind this charity is all in the name; Cops for Kids.

The Kelowna-based nonprofit organization, which raises funds to assist children that have suffered a medical, physical or traumatic crisis, held its 18th annual golf tournament at Black Mountain Golf Club in Kelowna Thursday afternoon.

Cops for Kids, its board of directors and event coordinator, work tirelessly to raise funds with support from their contributors.

“This is a good cause. Helping kids is a noble endeavor,” said Allan Profili, Canadian Border Services Agency employee, tournament golfer and rider in the Cops for Kids annual bike ride.

Black Mountain saw 16 teams play the tournament Thursday under rainy skies that turned to sun shortly after the Texas scramble got underway. RCMP members, retired officers, health care workers, business owners, athletes and many others enjoyed their game followed by dinner and a silent auction. Event coordinator Courtney King said they were aiming to raise about $30,000 during the event.

“This is a great charity. I like to support it and I like what they stand for,” said player Emily Mann, a designer with Chaparall Industries in Kelowna.

Something that draws retired lawyer and Rotary Club member Dennis Campbell to the tournament is the fact that all funds raised stay in the community, and within B.C. Campbell has been involved with the Cops for Kids program for many years, with Dockside Marine sponsoring his foursome this year. 

The charity’s signature fundraiser bike ride, held every September, is a grueling ten-day 1,000 km ride that takes place over challenging terrain. Current and retired RCMP members as well as Cops for Kids board members and others take part in the ride that begins and ends in Kelowna.

Funds raised during the golf tournament and ride will go toward medical treatments, transportation and accommodation, medications, specialized therapies, learning tools or mobility aids for children in crisis. There are 180 to 200 families from Lytton to the Alberta border and Clearwater to the U.S. border who are helped every year in some way through the foundation.

“We are able to help with services that are untouchable by the family. We can fill the gap,” said Cops for Kids rider and board past president Gail Harrison.

When families contact the foundation, they’re in a real crisis and their world has been turned upside down, Harrison explained.

This year, the charity is hosting a new fundraiser; the RCMP Musical Ride Aug. 9 at Prospera Place.

For more information on Cops for Kids, the Musical Ride show, or to donate, check out www.copsforkids.org.

Golfers set to hit the course at Black Mountain Golf Club in Kelowna during the Cops for Kids charity golf tournament Thursday.

(STACY PAVLOV / iNFOnews.ca)

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