Above: Bishop Douglas J. Lucia prays with the attendees before the golf tournament begins.
Outing raises funds for diocesan schools
By Tami S. Scott, associate editor
Sun photos l Chuck Wainwright
Seventy-six golfers forwent their chance to win $10,000 by missing a hole-in-one at the Kaluhyat Golf Course in Verona. They were playing in support of a fundraiser sponsored by the Diocese of Syracuse that benefits Catholic school scholarships.
“Thank you for sacrificing, Gentlemen! Thank you so much!” Amy Sansone shouted in jest to a foursome who drove to finish up the 9th – and toughest – hole on the course. Sansone, the diocesan superintendent of Catholic Schools, and Donald Mills, the deputy superintendent, were parked in a golf cart a short distance from the tournament challenge to act as witnesses should anyone have aced it.
The 3rd Annual Light a Child’s Future Charity Golf Tournament was held on the scenic grounds at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino, where flora and fauna often appear alongside the serene paths as players in their carts round the curves to the next hole.
“A lot of people come [to Turning Stone] because it’s more of a destination course,” Sansone said, adding that it’s also “not tied to any one of our local schools.”
“Strangely,” added Mills, “it’s almost the center of the Diocese compared to where all our schools are [located].”
The Diocese of Syracuse operates 19 schools within its seven-county span, four of which are junior/senior high schools. Event participants are critical in shaping the opportunity for students to attend Catholic schools by mitigating financial strains. The monies raised help fund scholarship opportunities for families that would otherwise not be able to afford Catholic education.
“We’re really proud of the fact that 100% of the proceeds go back to the kids,” said Kevin Reimer, Schools Grants & Scholarship coordinator, Catholic Schools Office. “It really is about welcome hospitality and walking our talk when we say everyone’s welcome.”
Schools also receive other needs-based (not academic-based) tuition assistance at different times of the year through the Hope Appeal, the Monsignor Yeazel scholarship, and multiple foundations including the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, and from each of the McDevitt, Scuderi and Heritage foundations.
“We’re blessed that there are many streams of revenue,” Sansone said.
What’s unique about the golf fundraiser is that each school can choose how to allocate their portion to their families.
“We give every school the same fixed amount,” Sansone said. “The schools can choose how they’re going to split up the money. Sometimes you have somebody who loses a job in the middle of the year, or you have somebody who has a health crisis. So the school, who knows the families, can make that choice to carve it up into smaller amounts, give somebody a larger chunk, and really personalize the need.”
The players
Among the golfers was first-time attendee Andrew Rivera, an associate at Bond, Schoeneck & King, who enjoyed getting out and mingling with co-workers. “We’re not the greatest golfers but we had a lot of fun and [it] was for a good cause,” he said.
Notre Dame Jr/Sr High school students Donald Schneider, who just graduated this June, and upcoming senior Sean Noon, said this was their second year participating. Despite the heat, they played “alright.”
“It’s definitely a good way to come together and raise money for [Catholic education], you know, to help take care of that because it’s definitely a dying thing – and it’s a wonderful thing – it should not be [dying],” Schneider said. “I’m very thankful for having graduated from a Catholic school and it’s great to have events like this to help keep them open.”
The school ambassadors
After a day in the sweltering heat, folks gathered for refreshments before heading inside to enjoy a relaxed sit-down dinner. Bishop Douglas J. Lucia offered an opening invocation before student ambassadors Amelia Fields and Phil McGarvey addressed the room.
Fields, a junior at Notre Dame Jr/Sr High School, touched on the value of Catholic schools in fostering a sense of community and deepening faith, and how they go beyond religious education, creating a supportive environment for personal growth and broadening horizons. “It’s about bringing together a community of people you can trust,” she told the Sun.
McGarvey, a 2024 Bishop Ludden graduate, has been a student ambassador for the event since its debut in 2021. He listed as one of the many benefits of attending a Catholic school is “finding yourself within all the groups you can hang out with.” In his six years at Ludden, he played four sports and was involved in theatre, student council and campus ministry, among other extracurricular activities.
“There’s a place for everyone in anything,” he said, “and you could be ‘not the best’ at whatever it is. You can still find your way there with a great coach [and] a great support system … I’ve had fun in everything I’ve done.”
The sponsors
Like any fundraiser, the sponsors largely contribute to an event’s success. The Catholic Schools Office offers a heartfelt thank you to all its advocates including Gallagher Baker, PC; Mackenzie Hughes; BPAS Financial; Bond, Schoeneck, & King; Barclay Damon; Notre Dame Schools; St. Anthony’s of Padua Alumni Association; Merrill Lynch; Chancery Consortium (Offices of Adolescent Catechesis & Discipleship, Child and Family Catechesis, Adult & Ministerial Formation, Family/Respect Life, Pastoral Leadership); Equitable Advisors; Wegmans; Catholic Charities and the Diocese of Syracuse, in addition to more than a dozen tee and green sponsors.
