Flame of Hope tournament raises big bucks for Diabetes Camps

August 4, 2022 · 0 Comments

Written By Brian Lockhart

The ninth annual Flame of Hope golf tournament was held at the Shelburne Golf and Country Club on Tuesday, July 26, with a full contingent of enthusiastic golfers on the fairways.

The tournament raises funds in support of camps for children with diabetes.

Over the nine years, the tournament has raised $500,000 for the cause with this year’s event expected to raise over $70,000.

“The tournament is named after the blue flame that is at Banting House in London,” explained Lindsay Wig, manager of community fundraising and events for Diabetes Canada. “As soon as there’s a cure for diabetes, they will put out the flame. This is a very community driven event. We’ve raised just over $500,000 since the tournament started and today we’ll raise around $70,000. We’ve grown the tournament over the years. We’ve got great sponsors on board and we completely sold out this tournament.”

D-camps, as they are known, are camps for children living with Type 1 diabetes. There is a D-camp in Huntsville as well as London. Across the country there are nine camps.

“We raise enough money with this tournament every year to send all the kids in Dufferin and Simcoe County to D-camp,” Lindsay explained. “Funds raised here will send kids to the camp in Huntsville.”

Diabetes camps allow children with diabetes to enjoy the usual summer camp activities, with the addition of trained personnel on-site that make sure they remain healthy.

As in previous years, several former NHL greats turned out for tournament. This year they played nine holes with a foursome before switching to another group for the back nine.

Several of the holes were sponsored for special events including one hole with a big prize for anyone lucky enough to hit a hole-in-one.

In addition, there was a silent auction with a lot of exciting items up for bid.