Cedar City Rotary Club’s golf ball drop raises over $5,000 for schoolchildren in need

CEDAR CITY — More than 500 golf balls were dropped from a helicopter over Cedar Ridge Golf Course on Wednesday evening as part of a fundraising project by the Cedar City Rotary Club and SUU’s Rotaract Club to benefit local schoolchildren in need.

Cedar City Rotary Club’s golf ball drop fundraiser, Cedar City, Utah, Aug. 11, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The numbered balls were sold for $10 each over the past month, starting during the Rotary Club’s July Jamboree car show, and on Wednesday, the balls were dropped from an SUU Aviation helicopter onto the fairway of the 18th hole. Rotary club members, assisted by other volunteers, then measured the closest ball to each cluster of flags that served as a prize marker. 

The prizes, all of which were donated by local businesses and organizations, included a 65-inch television, rifles, gift certificates and event tickets.

Tessa Douglas, the club’s public image chair, said a total of $5,100 was raised during the event.

“After learning that Iron County has one of highest poverty levels in Utah and that childhood hunger and homelessness are significant issues in this area, the Rotary Club decided to work to help address those needs,” Douglas wrote in an earlier news release about the fundraiser.

Cedar City Rotary Club’s golf ball drop fundraiser, Cedar City, Utah, Aug. 11, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The local Rotary Club members worked with Iron County School District staff, Utah Food Bank and Iron County Care and Share to remodel, upgrade and equip two school pantries, one of which will be located in an old driver’s education modular classroom located at the parking lot near the Cedar High School soccer fields.

The other pantry will be in a mobile trailer that is planned to be stationed at Fiddlers Canyon Elementary School playground on a monthly basis, with volunteers handing out boxes of food and supplies on designated dates. 

Rotary Club funds, along with grants and private donations, were also used to help fund the pantry projects.

Douglas said that over the past year or more, more than 400 families in the community have regularly been using the central school pantry, which provides food, clothing, blankets, school supplies and hygiene items to children in need.

The winners at Wednesday’s event, along with the prizes donated by local businesses and organizations, are listed below:

  • 65-inch television: Mark Millett.
  • Henry Golden Boy .22 caliber rifle: Dayton Beagles.
  • Savage Axis 6.5 rifle with Bushnell scope: Edwin Decker.
  • Ruby’s Inn package: Kyle Stevens.
  • Sand Hollow golf package: Brian Nichols, Seth Porter, Scott McDougald and Gerald Van Iwaarden.
  • Cedar Band gift baskets: Todd Hammond, Carter Wilkey, Paul Longson and Whitney Mosdell.
  • Iron Springs Resort stay and gift card to Bowman’s restaurant: Todd Boyer.
  • Cedar Motor Company oil change, tire rotation, and auto detail: Caroline Brown and Jeff Marchant.
  • Camping package: Sandy Turley.
  • Utah Shakespeare Festival tickets: Lucy Brown.
  • Tote and gift cards: Miranda Butler.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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