Back in August we had a sign up for volunteers to help us out at the Ally Challenge concession tents. Many of you answered the call, and for that we say THANK YOU! This week tournament officials were in town to volunteer themselves in our community. During the lunch break they held a news conference to announce the charitable donation amount because of the tournament. Read the MLive article by Brendan Savage below:
Ally Challenge announces seven-figure charitable donation from 2023 tournament
A torrential rainstorm canceled the opening day of The Ally Challenge this year but tournament officials still managed to raise more than $1 million in charitable donations for the fourth straight year. Tournament officials announced Monday that they would be donating almost $1.2 million to local charities. The announcement was made at Genesee County Habitat for Humanity in downtown Flint.
"For anybody who was there this year and saw what we went through to get to what we got to today, it's extremely impressive," said Jeff Cumberworth, Ally's senior director of auto marketing and events. "Just under $1.2 (million), that puts us over $7.3 (million) for six years now. It's just an incredibility proud moment for all of us today."
Friday's opening round was postponed until Saturday, meaning the 54-hole PGA Tour Champions event had to play 36 holes on Saturday to get back on schedule in time to complete Sunday's 18-hole finale. Cumberworth admitted there was some concern among tournament officials how that would impact the event and the amount of money donated to charity. "You always have concerns about that," he said. "It's a tough logistical challenge for everybody. We did our best to bring people back on Saturday. "Obviously, Saturday is a huge day but everybody banded together and pulled it off."
This year's donation was announced in a unique way. The oversized check was cut into puzzle pieces and several volunteers and tournament officials placed the pieces into the proper slots before the final piece unveiled the amount of the donation. Erin Stone, the tournament's director of business development and community engagement, said it was symbolic of all the puzzle pieces needed to stage the tournament. The final donation was $1,189,019. That's down from last year's $1.7 million. A total of $879,214.27 was donated to Genesee County Charities. Overall, more than 35 charities were impacted, including a portion of the funds for 20-plus crucial programs identified by the tournament's primary beneficiary, United Way of Genesee County.
Last year's tournament featured a Friday night concert on the 17th hole by Don Felder, a former member of rock supergroup The Eagles and Saturday's concert on the driving range was by country music superstar Miranda Lambert. Both events will continue although the acts will likely change.
So what about 2024? Cumberworth said it's too early to make any kind of announcement as to who will be performing next year - the tournament will be held Aug. 29-25 - but he confirmed there will be a Friday night show as well as the usual Saturday concert.
