WASHINGTON CITY — Over 120 golfers competed in Washington City’s annual Mayor’s Cup on Monday in charitable support of Utah Food Bank.
Directed by Washington City Rotary Club and located at Green Spring Golf Course, the tournament raised 500 pounds of food donations and $2,500 in cash donations for the food bank. Overall, Rotary Club gained about $10,000 of fundraiser revenue. The charity efforts stemmed from Rotary Club’s desire to aid Utah Food Bank’s increased need of supplies, said Wendy Bulkley, a leader in Washington City’s Rotary Club.
Paul Tikalsky, director of development of Utah Food Bank in Southern Utah, spoke about the state of the food bank.
“I’m not going to say our shelves are empty — that’s not accurate,” Tikalsky said. “We are serving more people now than before, and with inflation and gas prices increasing, we have a higher demand for food.”
On the golf course, tournament participants donated cases of canned and boxed food in trade for mulligans on the green and tickets for the multiple raffle drawings, which included prizes such as theater tickets and a Traeger Grill.
The event began at 7 a.m. with breakfast provided by Chick-fil-A. Thirty teams of four golfers teed off at 8 a.m., playing a best-ball scramble format.
The 18-hole competition ended around 1 p.m. Jersey Mike’s provided lunch, and Staheli Farms provided snacks and drinks throughout the event.
Washington City Mayor Kress Staheli did not compete in the tournament, though his predecessor, former Mayor Kenneth Nielson, did. Instead, Staheli drove throughout the course in a golf cart, meeting and connecting with the many golfers under the intense sun.
Rotary Club president Tyler Hunsaker said this event unfolded seamlessly with the many other contributing businesses helping out.
“For being our first time, it felt like we’d been running it for years,” he said.
The annual Mayor’s Cup began 11 years ago with the help of Bulkley and former mayor Nielson. Normally the event was primarily focused on economic connections between local businesses. This year, Rotary Club and Mayor Staheli wanted to continue the competition, but they put even more emphasis on charity for Utah Food Bank.
Although overwhelmingly pleased with the turn-out of the event and the huge donations, Bulkley said the call for charity aid is still out.
“Utah Food Bank is still asking for donations,” she said.
Tikalsky said monetary donations to the food bank go an especially long way due to Utah Food Bank’s unique discounts on food purchases.
“For every dollar people donate, we can turn that into $8 of food with our connections,” he said.
Applying this ratio to Monday’s tournament, the $2,500 donation money equates to about $20,000 of food.
Those interested can donate money to the food bank at this website.
Utah Food Bank’s St. George warehouse also accepts food donations.
“We can’t take people’s 1974 food storage – that’s happened,” Tikalsky said. “We can take items from 2016 forward. Canned goods, boxed pasta and cereal are great, and peanut butter. We always have a need for peanut butter.”
The St. George warehouse is located at 4416 S. River Road, open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Tikalsky said the St. George warehouse distributes 1.3 million pounds of food every year, and they recently doubled the size of the foodbank.
“We supply and distribute food to 39 agencies throughout Southern Utah,” Tikalsky said.
These locations include Switchpoint homeless shelter, DOVE women’s shelter, three Native American reservations and the Salvation Army. Throughout the summer, St. George’s food bank has been providing lunch to about 150 kids a day at Sandtown Park and LaVerkin until public school begins again.
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