COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado — For early November, the sunny skies and warm temperatures on Sunday made for ideal conditions to be out on the golf course. Yet, members of the Colorado Springs Country Club got together this weekend to celebrate an earlier golf outing from mid September
"It was our biggest success yet," said Ruthie Lohrig-Kline, chair of the club's Charity Golf Committee.
They raised nearly $41,000 for Special Kids, Special Families at a charity golf tournament and fundraiser lunch. Special Kids, Special Families serves local families who have a child with a disability.
"I was stunned to hear the amount of money and the generosity of people," said Linda Ellegard, executive director of Special Kids, Special Families.
Her organization runs Zach's Place at the Laurie Hillyard Family Center. It's one of only two facilities in the state where parents can use respite and day care for children with intellectual, physical and emotional disabilities 7 days a week.
It's highly qualified care which can be expensive. Ellegard said the money raised that the golf tournament will help make their services more affordable to families in need.
"This allows that accessibility to services and we don't have to turn these families away because of their inability to pay," she said.
To Lohrig-Kline,the remarkable part of the fundraiser was the number of golfers who took part.
"Each and everyone of our members, 133 golfers, showed up and paid $80 to play on their own course," she said. "We had several guests that came and played as well."
Special Kids, Special Families is one of the hundreds of Southern Colorado charities participating in Colorado Gives Day which is coming up up December 10th.
