By Terra Avilla
My heart is so grateful. This week’s article was actually incredibly hard to write, because I didn’t know where to start.
For the past couple of months Holiday with a Hero has been organizing our first ever ugly Christmas Sweater golf tournament. Our program is trying to expand to reaching kids year-round, not just at Christmas, which of course, requires more funds.
This tournament was our attempt to help secure funds for our Christmas program, so that we can now focus on other missions we want to do. Welp, ladies and gentlemen of Lassen County, with your help, it was a huge success.
The great thing about our community is how many people are willing just to help where they need to.
My new friend Dave Martin, who I am sure is happy he is finished dealing with me, was a wealth of knowledge and very patient with me, as my knowledge of golf was nonexistent.
And he was just the beginning.
As we continued our journey, I was blown away by the people and groups that approached ME, wanting to help. Not the other way around.
Susanville’s Sunrise Rotary graciously volunteered to help with the bar. Pat and Lance Monath (Monath Construction) tracked me down to give me a huge check, stating “C’mon you know we have a soft spot for kids!”
Amy Holley from Walmart delivered the 5-piece barbeque set for the raffle after asking me if she could donate.
I could go on and on about the people and organizations who, unprovoked, stepped up to be a hero.
Sara Chandler made me cry when she dedicated a hole to her late brother because “Christmas and kids were his favorite.” Sara and Jeremiah are heroes. Karen McDaniel during a work meeting asked me if she could donate, while Kalli Oxford and Megan Patterson tracked me down to give their money.
Then came my phone calls with Russell Bates and Chris Cobian. Both sponsored a team, and Russell after hearing what we are trying to do, doubled his donation. It was incredible.
But it’s not just people and businesses, its families. Brittney Faria and her daughter donated a basket, my new friends from ChaChas tacos donated, Ben Parrish handcrafted a sign and brought his whole family down to the raffle.
We had volunteers. Oh boy did we have volunteers.
We had Ms. Rebecca Kirkland from Ms. Lassen County’s Court who was the sweetest raffle item model and costume judge that there ever was. We also had one of my all-time favorites – Gregory Crowe and his wonderful daughters as well as Amy Alvin and Sherry Williams.
They sat and watched a hole ALL day for us for the hole in one competition! Just because they wanted to help. (Also, HUGE THANK YOU To Jolene Speers for making the hole in one possible!)
And of course, my favorite volunteer of all time-ever Bri Meyers, who, although she is only ten, is the best human being I have ever met.
Our local press are also super stars, JDX was more than accommodating to allow us airtime to promote our event, and I even saw Sam Williams there the morning of. And of course, my family at SusanvilleStuff, Jeremy and Marshel, always go out of their way to promote any event that benefits our county’s children.
It’s all these people outside of just what I can do by myself that made this event happen.
It’s the ladies that dressed up in their wonderful matching outfits, it’s the Hahn’s and their decorated golf cart, to Jim Dandois and KC Wizer wearing what can only be described as a Christmas outfits like Santa’s factory threw up in a Michael’s fabric store. (I mean that in the best way possible.)
And of course, thank you to my wonderful fellow board members. I know this may be a surprise for some of you, but I can be a lot. A lot to deal with. A lot to manage. And these wonderful people who are also volunteers are the glue and the foundation for why HWAH is what it is today.
I get choked up thinking about the wonderful things we have and will accomplish. The golf tournament was just one of many reasons, supported by our community, of why I love where we live.
