September 11. A day no one will forget, and everyone will make time to honor. It also just so happened to be the day of this year’s The Classic golf tournament. For the EDPA Northeast Chapter, The Classic is a day of networking, friendly competition and of rallying members together in support of a great cause. The Classic is always planned for the first Monday in September following Labor Day and has only ever fallen on this most historic day once before in the seven years the event has been run.
The day could not have turned out better. In typical Massachusetts fashion, the weather forecast for the day was one of rain and thunder (and lightning, a golfer’s worst fear). Yet, the ‘golf gods’ were certainly looking down on us as the inclement weather held off through the entire tournament and, in fact, the sun made an appearance during the awards ceremony that concluded the day. We had an amazing turnout; the best so far in the post-COVID era. There were 69 total golfers for The Classic 2023, along with 22 non-golfers attending simply for the networking and enjoyment of the day (including 10+ volunteers). What’s more, we had record-breaking numbers of sponsors for this event: 28 in total.
In a move made to reinvigorate excitement and engagement in this annual charity golf tournament, this year’s Chapter Board made the decision to donate proceeds from the event to a 9/11-inspired organization. For one, it just made sense, given the event day and its deeper meaning to every person regardless of industry or job status. For another, the Board recognized the opportunity to be more inclusive of Chapter members outside of Massachusetts (where two of the Chapter’s biggest annual events are held). Specifically, it fit within the Chapter’s goal to increase membership and participation in New York and New Jersey, and what better way to incite involvement than by selecting an organization close to the heart of those communities?
Since its inception, The Classic has supported the EDPA Scholarship Foundation; a very important charity to the industry at large and which receives an outpouring of support from many Chapters and EDPA member companies. While this organization certainly relies on its fundraising efforts to give back to our industry’s children with scholarships for higher education, the Chapter Board felt that this year, The Classic should support a new organization that also relies on donations to function and serves its communities. The three main pillars of the Chapter mission are to advocate for the growth and stability of events and customer experience industry, provide educational opportunities for its members outside of conference workshops, and to give back to all its communities through volunteer efforts and monetary support. It was for this reason that the Chapter Board made the decision to change up charities for the first time and go with an organization that would appeal to its ‘southern border’ members for its closeness with those communities. After carefully vetting through several organizations, the Board chose HEART 9/11. Standing for Healing Emergency Aid Response Team, HEART 9/11 was formed by members of the FDNY, NYPD, PAPD and the NYC Building Trades who bonded in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. HEART 9/11’s mission is to respond immediately to natural and man-made disasters, rebuild community centers in hard-hit areas to meet grassroots needs and recover by building resiliency for individuals, families and communities. Most importantly, 93% of donations made to HEART 9/11 goes right to their programs. (HEART 9/11 currently has a Gold rating with Candid on the delivery of program services they provide.)
This move obviously resonated with Northeast Chapter members, with not just our ‘regulars’ of sponsor companies and golfers who have been the mainstay for this event’s fundraising, but a host of new faces and new organizations in the events industry that attended. Perhaps it was also the addition of some new sponsorship levels (in a range from $100-$1,550 to accommodate giving budgets of all sizes), or the chance to win a $25,000 grand prize for making a hole-in-one at one of the Par 3s. Not to mention a great selection of prize items to fit any golfer’s wish-list to bid on for our raffle. Or maybe it was the fact that this year’s winning team would be bringing home a trophy and not just bragging rights for getting the best score, plus the introduction of two hole games to make the day’s event that much more fun, that helped bring in such a high headcount of sponsors and attendees (for hole games, there was ‘Battlechip,’ a cornhole-meets-golf game where golfers played for chances to be entered in a 50/50 raffle and get a drink ticket for participation, and ‘Cornhole-in-One,’ where players tried their luck at sinking a bean bag into the cornhole board for a chance to win the custom-made cornhole boards for the game plus a Yeti cooler filled with goodies).
With all these reasons and more, The EDPA Northeast Chapter was able to raise enough money to donate $5,000 to HEART 9/11; the most the Chapter has ever been able to donate from this annual event. It was certainly a history-making day for this EDPA Chapter, and an event we will always remember.
And while it’s the Northeast Chapter that puts on this annual golf tournament fundraiser for its members, we truly could not do it without their support, donations and participation.
A HUGE Thank You Goes Out to the 2023 The Classic Golf Tournament Sponsors:
Display Supply & Lighting, Inc.
Trussworks (Exclusive US Distributor of Prism Lighting Group)
