Emily Progin, PR and Communications Coordinator
eprogin@helphopelive.org / 800.642.8399
Release: Immediate
2nd ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT TO HELP LOCAL MAN PAY FOR
WHEELCHAIR VAN & MEDICAL EXPENSES
Aug 22: Tee Off for a Cause With Olympic Gold Medalist Lindsay Whalen
BUFFALO LAKE, Minn.—On Monday, August 22, tee off for an excellent cause with two-time gold medalist Lindsay Whalen at the 2nd Annual Wheels for Colby Golf Tournament at Oakdale Golf Club (55106 County Rd. 38, Buffalo Lake). Check in starts at 11 a.m. with a shotgun start at noon. Meal served at 5 p.m. with a live auction to follow. All funds raised will benefit the national nonprofit Help Hope Live in honor of Colby Smith, a local man living with paralysis, to help pay for a wheelchair accessible van as well as medical expenses associated with twice weekly physical therapy and medical equipment that helps with his paralysis.
Four-person scramble and meal for just $125 per person. Dinner only for $25. Dinner is a Burger Bar with all the fixings started at 5 p.m. or at the conclusion of the golf. Colby is grateful to local sponsor Benny’s Meat Market in Hutchinson and Hector, MN for donating all of the burgers for the Burger Bar.
Enjoy a power wheelchair obstacle course for an additional $10. Register online at: https://events.helphopelive.org/event/5635/signup/
Sponsorships are still available! Contact Colby directly to discuss: colbysmith2002@hotmail.com or 612-532-9610.
This is the second year that the tournament has secured support from Lindsay Whalen, who graduated with Colby from Hutchinson in 2000. Lindsay is the head coach for the University of Minnesota women’s basketball team following her own career in the WNBA. She has won four WNBA championship titles and two Olympic gold medals in U.S. women’s basketball.
Colby has been living with paralysis from the shoulders down since an August 1998 car accident when he was 17 years old. While Colby has found ingenious ways to navigate his life and world in the years following the accident, he needed a van to help him maintain independence and get to and from medical appointments and physical therapy. Without the van, Colby’s world and community engagements are drastically limited. Luckily, thanks to his very generous community, Colby was able to place a down payment on a new adaptive van to replace his 22-year-old van.
Insurance does not cover any cost of an adaptive van or the cost of the physical therapy that he receives at Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Center’s ABLE program. It’s the best noninvasive intervention available to help him cope with the combination of spinal scoliosis, lordosis, and nerve irritation.
The national nonprofit Help Hope Live manages all funds raised in Colby’s honor, including proceeds from the golf tournament. Colby partners with the nonprofit for trusted and secure medical fundraising. Donations can be made at any time: https://helphopelive.org/campaign/13225/
Donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law, and all funds raised will be managed by the nonprofit to cover verified medical and related expenses. Help Hope Live verifies medical and financial need for every patient. Funds raised will not jeopardize Colby’s eligibility for state-based benefits—a key difference between Help Hope Live and GoFundMe.
Help Hope Live is a national nonprofit that specializes in engaging communities in secure, tax-deductible fundraising campaigns for people who need a transplant or are affected by a catastrophic injury or illness. Since 1983, campaigns organized by Help Hope Live have raised over $165 million to pay patient expenses. ###
Written by Emily Progin
