More than 200 people turned out for the 15th Annual ABHOW Foundation Golf Classic on Oct. 10, held again this year at Round Hill Country Club in Alamo, Calif. This year’s net proceeds – over $100,000 – brings the total amount raised in tournament history to well over $1 million. Proceeds benefit seniors living at ABHOW's 30 affordable housing communities.
“Everybody had a good time,” says Al Salottolo, this year’s tourney chair, who is also a new foundation board member. “The food, the auctions, the golf, the prizes – were all good.”
Even the weather cooperated. “We dodged a bullet on the weather,” he says. Rain fell all around Round Hill, but few drops fell on the golfers competing in scramble format event.
Major tournament sponsors Ziegler Securities, Greystone Development and Sodexo Food Service, led the way for a record-setting year for sponsorships. Money raised by the Golf Classic gives the ABHOW Foundation additional resources to enhance life for the more than 2,200 residents of ABHOW’s affordable senior housing communities in California and Washington.
The Foundation awards grants to those communities for improvements that will enrich the quality of life of the seniors who live there—buses for transportation, outdoor furniture and other amenities that make life more enjoyable. The 132 golfers enjoyed a misty day on the course and in the evening, they and other attendees bid for items in silent and live auctions, including fine wines, golf outings and tickets to the 2012 U.S. Open golf championship. Later, they enjoyed a reception, dinner and a golf tournament award ceremony.
This year’s event included something new—two special refreshment stops on the golf course. Evergood Fine Foods, based in San Francisco, offered a grilled sausage and beer stop, featuring Evergood’s own sausage, while Dahlin Group Architecture Planning quenched the golfers’ thirst with a variety of cool drinks.
But lest you think golfers had all the fun, non-golfers participating in the fundraiser enjoyed a day of lunch and spa treatments at the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, Calif. Transportation to the Claremont was provided by Broadmoor Plaza, ABHOW’s award-winning San Leandro community. The community’s eight-passenger van was purchased with a grant from the ABHOW Foundation.
Salottolo is already looking forward to working on next year’s Golf Classic. But first he wants to wrap up the one just completed with a thank-you to those who made it possible, and a nod to those it serves.
“Everybody worked hard to make the tourney look effortless,” he says. “We want to support residents, to give them more pride in their communities.”
About ABHOW:
Founded in 1949, ABHOW is widely known for its pioneering leadership in senior housing and health care. The company serves more than 5,000 residents in 37 retirement communities in California, Arizona, Nevada and Washington.
To learn more about ABHOW visit www.abhow.com.
This article appeared in the November 2011 issue of ABHOW Words.
