- October 18, 2024
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Around 120 golfers showed up at the Cypress Head Golf Course on Saturday, April 21, for the annual Port Orange South Daytona Rotary Club golf tournament to raise funds for the Community Partnership for Children.
It's a tradition that is now in its nineteenth year and an event that brings in funds in order for the non-profit to find a safe place for children with the end goal of reunification of the family. The non-profit helps children in the foster and adoption system in addition to mentoring and case management.
"It's important that we give back to the community, so by doing this golf tournament, we're able to help the Community Partnership for Children with their foster kids program," Rotary member Ken Burgman said. "It's something that our club strongly believes in and so we just appreciate everybody being out here today helping us help the foster children."
According to Community Partnership for Children CEO Mark Jones, the ultimate goal is to reunify children with their families within 12 months. To move the process along, families may be a part of special projects and enrichment programs to foster a stronger family environment.
"Sometimes life spirals down quickly and our goal is to rebuild the family situation and make it safe for the children to return," Jones said. "Our overall mission is to protect the safety and well-being of childcare while establishing permanency."
According to Rotary President-elect Deb McCall, Rotary started putting funds toward the non-profit about four years ago. Last year, $13,000 was raised. For McCall, the golf tournament is about "service above self" to make a difference in the community.
"They do great work. There are so many foster children in Volusia and Flagler County, way too many, and the government is always cutting their funding," McCall said. "We thought we could help with that."
Rotary President Nick DeSantis said that the board of directors and membership decided to use revenue generated from the tournament in support of the Community Partnership for Children partially because it aligns with one of the objectives of Rotary: community service for the improvement of life in the community. DeSantis said the non-profit is also instrumental in partnering with other child care development agencies for the care and safety of children that have been abused, neglected or abandoned.
"CPC is important because if they didn’t exist the level of care and safety for children, who can't take care of themselves and didn’t ask to be in an abusive or negligent situation could possibly be reduced or perhaps even barely existent," DeSantis said. "There are other agencies and parts to the puzzle and they are all necessary. We feel their mission is critical for the implementation and follow-up necessary for foster children in Volusia, Flagler and Putnam counties."
