The 2016 Addison Rotary Open Golf Tournament presented by GLM DFW Inc. is scheduled for Monday, September 12. This year’s event will once again benefit Ronald McDonald House of Dallas (RMHD). In its 26th year, the Addison Rotary Club’s annual golf tournament has helped raise nearly 10 percent of the RMHD’s annual operating budget for the last eight years, and has given more than $3.7 million to both RMHD and other non-profits since it began in 1990.
The event at Gleneagles Country Club will feature a silent and live auction, which includes an original painting by seven-year-old Taylor Kucel, who lived with her family at the Ronald McDonald House in Houston during her battle with cancer. Her uncle, Joel Kucel, who is involved with RMHD’s golf committee, arranged for the artwork featuring Taylor’s favorite television show Duck Dynasty to be donated.
“My niece Taylor was diagnosed with stage four cancer when she was seven,” said Kucel. “The initial treatment plan called for 54 weeks of chemotherapy and radiation at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Taylor and her family lived in Levelland, Texas so my first call was to my Addison Rotary friend, Fritizie Roop. Fritizie put us in touch with the Ronald McDonald House in Houston, which provided her family with a room where Taylor was able to make friends, her parents, Chad and Katherine, were able to develop tremendously therapeutic relationships with other parents in similar situations, and the entire family was blessed with the love and comforts of a ‘home’. She would have been so excited to see her painting being auctioned off, but she would have been even more excited to know that the money being raised would help other children and their families at the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas.”
One of the top-ranked golf tournaments, the tournament will include a full day of golf on two courses, plus a post tournament dinner party, cocktails, awards and the silent and live auctions that will feature Taylor’s artwork, among other items.
The Addison Rotary Foundation is a non-profit organization established to address community issues through service projects such as the Addison Rotary Open. The Ronald McDonald House of Dallas provides a home-away-from-home for 1,800 families each year while their children are receiving treatment for illnesses or injuries at Dallas hospitals. The House serves a critical need for families who stay there, all of whom come from distances greater than 40 miles away from Dallas. Although RMHD asks guest families to contribute only $15 per night, no family is ever turned away for an inability to pay.
This year’s four-man team scramble begins with registration and pre-tournament activities at 10 a.m. with the post-tournament auction and party at 6 p.m. It has received the generous support of presenting sponsor GLM DFW Inc. and diamond sponsor Jones, Lange, LaSalle. A partial listing of sponsors also includes: Swingle Collins & Associates, B/K Multifamily, First Floors Carpet One, Bush-Sandison/McKinney Lumber Co., Enterprise Rent-A-Car, UBS Financial Services, Bosch/Thermador, GE Appliances, Gold Star Appliances, Whirlpool, Alliance Tax Advisors, AMLI, Architecture Demarest, Intervest Companies, Post Properties, Trammel Crow Residential, First Trust, Aerospace Quality Research & Development, McDonald’s Greater Southwest Region, the Martin Brewer Company, Tyson Foods, Bank of Texas, Chubb Insurance, Lawns of Dallas, Lamb Wesson/ConAgra, and Winstead PC.
Registration and additional information about the Addison Rotary Open is available online. For information on sponsorships, donating to the auction, or other ways to contribute, contact tournament chair Justin Shoemaker of JPMorgan Chase & Co. at justin.k.shoemaker@gmail.com.
ABOUT RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE OF DALLAS:
Established in 1981, Ronald McDonald House of Dallas has served as a home-away-from-home for more than 36,000 families of seriously ill children who have traveled to Dallas seeking medical treatment in area hospitals. By providing a caring, supportive, home-like environment, Ronald McDonald House of Dallas keeps the family intact and helps allow a family to establish a normal routine in the midst of crisis. It also provides families with the opportunity to share their concerns with other families in similar circumstances. For more information, please contact Ronald McDonald House of Dallas at 214.631.7354, or visit www.rmhdallas.org.
