RMHC golf tournament tees off Saturday

Charitable golf tournament adapts to continue.

The Ronald McDonald House charity will be hosting it’s sixth annual Alberta Lakeland Charity Golf event in Cold Lake this weekend with a new format to work around COVID-19 obstacles.

The event will tee off at the Cold Lake Golf & Winter Club for August 15th at 7:00am, and will include a variety of items up for silent auction.

Typically, the event would function as a tournament complete with a banquet, but instead, it will run tee times in 15 minute intervals — which could be subject to change — in order to act in accordance with AHS safety guidelines.

RMHC is an organization that provides accommodations to families with children undergoing prolonged medical procedures, and like most entities in the country it’s had to make changes to it’s typical operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When everything started to happen, AHS mandated that we weren’t allowed to house a family in-home once the previous family had left, we had to leave the spot vacant,” said RMHC spokesperson Oreen Skiba.

“But now we’re back up to around 90 per cent occupancy, and there’s a lot more sterilizing, but we’ve always had kids with compromised immune systems in and out of the house.

“We really pride ourselves in how diligent we’re keeping each house clean.”

Funds generated through the event will go directly towards the province’s four RMHC locations in Edmonton, Red Deer, Calgary, and Medicine Hat.

RMHC has served over 150 families in the Lakeland, and has several local programs beyond its housing services, including it’s fuel that provides families with a $100 card to cover gas for hospital trips to and from a Ronald McDonald House, and a holiday meal typically held in November to help build relationships, which Skiba says will likely not happen this year.

No word yet on the status of the charity’s early winter hockey tournament, the Winterland Invitation, typically held during the Family Day long weekend.