Newport Avenue Market in Bend, Ore., hosted the first Go Golf Tournament earlier this week in support of Backpacks in Bend. All monies raised from the one day, $46,842, was presented to the nonprofit during an awards ceremony following the tournament at Broken Top Golf Club. The tournament hosted more than 100 golfers from the community, including leaders from the grocery and retail industry.
“The funds will be used to continue on our mission of filling children’s backpacks with non-perishable food to take home over the weekends when school is in session,” said Amy Fraley of Backpacks in Bend.
Of the nearly 16,000 students in the Bend La Pine School District, more than 7,000 currently qualify for free and reduced price lunch.
How Backpacks in Bend works?
• School staff members identify students living in food-insecure households to participate in the program;
• Volunteers fill and drop off the food packs at the 15 participating schools on Thursday or Friday morning;
• Packs are discreetly distributed to children and taken home over the weekend; and
• Once enrolled, a child is served consistently on a weekly basis for the entire school year.
“We are pleased with the participation of everyone involved; we simply could not have produced such an amazing event without our sponsors, participants, volunteers and Broken Top Golf Club,” said Lauren Johnson, head cheerleader at Newport Avenue Market. “100 percent of the money raised during the tournament will stay in Central Oregon to feed hungry children in our community.”
The donation this week was the largest in Backpacks in Bend’s history.
