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Letters: Sun City Grand golf balls benefit sick children

Posted 1/25/23

About five years ago, I started donating to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

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Charity

Letters: Sun City Grand golf balls benefit sick children

Posted

Editor's Note: To donate, contact Kolsky at 360-220-2917 or 16607 W. Torrance Lane, Surprise, AZ, 85387.

About five years ago, I started donating to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

This was for a few reasons: my wife was a child psychologist at B.C. Children’s Hospital for 25 years and I learned what it takes to support very ill children and their families medically, psychologically and emotionally.

As well, after I began designating my yearly donations to Phoenix Children’s Hospital (given we live here), my wife and I were able to take a tour of our incredible children’s hospital in Phoenix, and saw the amazing work that is done here for the children and families of the metropolitan area of Phoenix and beyond. Last year, we attended a fundraiser for the Hospital.

The evening centered around children who either had been treated, or were still on treatment, for various types of pediatric cancer. Ten children took part in a fashion show with the theme of Super Heroes. Their costumes were created by ASU students in the Fashion and Design program in collaboration with each child who had been individually paired with an ASU student.

To observe the joys and successes if their treatment to date was so very heartwarming — as well as being a view into the suffering each had endured through videos that had been taken previously. Today, in 2022, over 90% of childhood cancer is able to be cured — but rarely without life-altering consequences for all involved. But it takes a great deal of money to provide state-of-the-art life-saving care.

Two years ago, friends of ours sold their home not far from here, and offered me the approximately 7,000 balls they had found each evening on their walks over 12 years from the golf course bordering their property. My initial reaction was to sell the balls and keep the money — but on second thought, I realized that the gift of these balls needed a higher purpose.

That is when I started selling pristine used golf balls and donating the full amount of the proceeds to Phoenix Children’s Hospital. In 2021, I donated over $2,000, and this year it will be closer to $3,000. My ultimate goal is to reach $10,000 as soon as possible.

This has turned into both a hobby and a passion, and I am very happy to be able to help ease some of the distress very ill children and their families endure.

I want to thank not only the residents of SCG for buying the balls, but the many residents, from other communities as well as ours, who have also donated balls to me they had collected. In October, upon my return I was greeted at my house by containers of over 6,000 balls, which I cleaned and then sold at our November SCG Garage Sale. I continue to receive calls donating golf balls or wanting to buy golf balls, and I am extremely appreciative of others’ generosity to this cause.