Alice Dennis got involved in the Bishop McDonald-Catholic Charities Golf Classic because she loves golf, but she has stayed active in organizing it each year because she became committed to Catholic Charities.
The diocesan agency has hosted a tournament each fall for the past 15 years to benefit several programs, including Catholic Adoption Services, the Westside Free Medical Clinic and Catholic Immigration Services.
This year’s event will be held Sept. 21 at the Maumelle Country Club.
Dennis started playing golf about 20 years ago and plays “off and on” with her husband, Bill, and friends.
“I play mostly in the summer, a fair-weather golfer,” she said. “My husband is an avid golfer. … I love the integrity of the game and the challenge of the game. I can go out there for four hours with my girlfriends and play golf and forget about everything else. It’s a great relaxation. That’s a lot of our social life and entertainment.”
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About six years ago Dennis, a member of St. Edward Church in Little Rock and Maumelle resident, came to the tournament when it was located at the Country Club of Arkansas in Maumelle and watched her husband play.
“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “One year I was out there and I started helping Roz (Rector, the tournament chairwoman). She invited me to play on a team with her. … I liked the event. I met some of the people from Catholic Charities. It intrigued me. I really didn’t know anything about Catholic Charities and what they did. I thought it was really neat and interesting. I could see it as a way to get involved.”
She officially joined the committee in 2006. The next year she was asked to co-chair the tournament with Rector.
“She was trying to ease out (as tournament chairwoman). She was doing it a long time,” Dennis said.
For the 2008 tournament, Dennis coordinated the tournament on her own with the assistance of three committees — one for the tournament, one for the cocktail party the night before and one for auction donations.
“It can be time consuming,” Dennis admits, “but we have it down to a science now. This is the 15th year. So we have all of the framework in place. We have a number of people on the planning committee.”
Once the final hole was played at the 2008 tournament, Dennis and the committee members begin to plan for next year’s event, looking for ways to improve the tournament, to get more involvement and to raise more funds.
The committees meet monthly until a month before the tournament. During the four weeks before the tournament, the committees meet more often to finalize the details.
Because Dennis is a volunteer as well as the committee members, they are always looking for more helpers to organize the tournament as well as people on the days of the events.
Dennis said parishes can easily get involved by encouraging four-man teams to sign up. Last year about 200 golfers participated, but there is enough room for at least 250 to 300 participants.
Dennis said she became more committed to Catholic Charities after seeing and hearing about their programs and who they benefit.
“Being involved in it, it is very, very rewarding,” she said. “Catholic Charities is such a worthy cause and they minister to such a wide range of people throughout the state. The tournament and auction are ways to raise awareness of what Catholic Charities does. We probably all know someone who Catholic Charities has helped.”
This year’s goal of $60,000 is an increase over last year, Dennis said. “This event is the main fundraiser for Catholic Charities,” she said. “That is why it is so important for it to be successful.”
Dennis said there are four ways for Catholics who don’t golf to get involved in the tournament. First, they can attend the cocktail party Sept. 20. Second, they can donate a product or service for the auction. Third, they can be a hole or tournament sponsor. Last, they can volunteer on one of the committees.
Information is available at www.dolr.org/ offices/catholiccharities/golfpage.php. For more information, call Dennis at (501) 681-8445 or Rebecca Spencer at (501) 664-0340.
Bishop McDonald-Catholic Charities Golf Classic
Sept. 20: Cocktail party and auction at Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock. Mass at 5:30 p.m., followed by party in McDonald Hall. Open to the public, $20 a ticket or free to golfers and their guests.
Sept. 21: Tournament at Maumelle Country Club. Two tee times, with top awards given in each flight. $150 a person or $600 a team.
Read more about Catholic Charities of Arkansas in the June 2009 “Catholic Charities Connections” supplement to Arkansas Catholic.
