Jermaine Dye (Chicago White Sox, 2005 World Series MVP) will host the 3rd Annual Celebrity Golf Classic on Monday, June 12, 2017, at The Glen Club (2901 W. Lake Ave., Glenview, IL 60026) to benefit Fresh Start Caring For Kids Foundation. Fresh Start Caring For Kids Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing children with no-cost reconstructive surgery and follow-up medical care. The organization has provided no-cost surgeries to 60 patients and more than $2 million in donated medical care since its June 2014 inception in Chicago. Fresh Start Caring For Kids Foundation was named the winner of the Make It Better Foundation 2015 Philanthropy Award for Health & Wellness, which was sponsored by Nancy Searle.
The golf outing and post-golf luncheon will also be hosted by Honorary Chairperson Barry Golden. The golf outing will begin with registration and breakfast at 8 a.m., and the shotgun start will take place at 9 a.m. Participants will have the opportunity to golf with celebrities and win prizes. At the end of the round, participants will enjoy a cocktail reception from 2-3 p.m., raffle drawings, and the announcement of golf contest winners.
The luncheon will be hosted from 3-5 p.m. and will include live music and an opportunity to mingle with Dye and other celebrity guests* during a buffet luncheon with an open bar. The afternoon will also feature live and silent auctions with prizes, including an Apple Vacations and Riu Caribe three-night vacation to Cancun, Mexico; an opportunity to golf with Dye at the exclusive, invitation-only Scottsdale National in Arizona; and various experience packages and sports memorabilia.
“I’m honored to partner with Fresh Start Caring For Kids Foundation,” Dye says. “No child should have to endure a physical deformity because of lack of insurance or lack of financial resources. The Foundation gives children a new lease on life. I’m excited to bring some of the biggest names in professional sports to help raise awareness of the great work performed by the Foundation.”
Tickets for the luncheon are $40-$75. Participation fees are $500 for an individual golfer and $1,750 for a foursome with a celebrity. All ticket and sponsorship opportunities are available here.
One hundred percent of the proceeds from the 3rd Annual Celebrity Golf Classic will directly benefit the medical needs of children served by Fresh Start Caring For Kids Foundation. The organization provides no-cost medical services to patients through Surgery Weekends and clinics held at The University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital three times per year. Medical services are donated by doctors, clinicians and other medical professionals. The Celebrity Golf Classics have raised more than $45,000 to date to benefit Fresh Start Caring For Kids Foundation.
Fresh Start Caring For Kids Foundation’s vision is to build a community of local healthcare organizations and surgical volunteers committed to ensuring that — through short- and long-term medical intervention — every child with a physical deformity receives the medical care they need. Through the treatment they receive, each child has a new opportunity to develop a positive self-image, renewed self-esteem, confidence and a fresh start in life.
Every day many children courageously face the world with physical imperfections and deformities. Some are born with birth defects, while others have suffered from disease and injury. Each child deserves the best medical care possible. Surgeons affiliated with Fresh Start Caring For Kids Foundation are highly-trained specialists who are board certified in plastic surgery and members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). Reconstructive surgery can help correct many of these issues, such as cleft lip and cleft palate, Treacher Collins syndrome, port-wine stain and microtia, but many children do not have access to the surgery and care they need.
Please contact Utica J. Gray, PhD, Chicago regional director of Fresh Start Caring For Kids Foundation, at utica@freshstart.org or 847-513-3326 with questions or for additional information.
*Past celebrity participants have included the following:
- Jermaine Dye — Celebrity Host
- Marcus Allen
- Brian Anderson
- Jerry Azumah
- Tim Brown
- Richard Dent
- Marshall Faulk
- Grant Fuhr
- Chuck Garfien
- Robbie Gould
- David Justice
- Patrick Mannelly
- Mark Mulder
- Dan Pasqua
- Scott Podsednik
- Andre Reed
- Alfonso Ribeiro
- Sterling Sharpe
- Frank Thomas
