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Date: 9/2/2020
WEST SPRINGFIELD – For the past two years Mary and Fred Kadushin, co-chairs of Feed the Kids Golf Tournament, have hosted a golf tournament at the Springfield Country Club in West Springfield to raise money and ensure no child in the Pioneer Valley, or the country, goes hungry.
Kadushin said his wife first approached him with the idea for the first golf tournament years ago. “[She] called me one day and said we heard about these kids not being fed, and we should do something,” he said. Since then, he said they’ve been working to raise money for the cause. However, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic they’re unable to host their annual golf tournament, which he said has “been very successful” in the past.
Instead, on Sept. 21 they will host a weeks-long virtual auction that will take the place of the tournament and still raise money to provide meals for children in need. He said the pandemic has only increased the need to raise money and help families. “With the pandemic, some families are not in a position to buy food, some schools systems are not able to deliver meals the way they used to,” he said.
He said the tournament has “always done an auction at the event,” and that it typically “raises about half our money,” used to help local and national organizations. “At least in each year, we’ve donated at least 50 percent locally,” he said.
Two local programs supported by the funds raised through the tournament, Kadushin said, are the Holyoke Public Schools Weekend Backpack Program and the Pioneer Valley Power Packs. Kadushin explained that backpack programs, such as the ones supported by funds from the tournament each year, are run by volunteers who purchase or collect food donations, and distribute them to families in need.
In addition to supporting local programs, Kadushin explained that a portion of the money made each year during the event also gets donated to the national program, No Kids Hungry, that works to reduce food insecurity in children.
Kadushin said he’s hoping this year’s online, virtual auction will be just as successful. “We’re hoping we get people from all over the world. I’m hoping to see we get a lot of traffic and a lot of interest in it,” he said. He added that another purpose of the auction is to “make people aware that there’s a need” to help food insecure children.
The auction will begin on Sept. 21 and remain open until Oct. 5. Items included in the auction range from items donated by local businesses and individuals such as a Big Y Gift Card Basket, homemade pottery, a membership to Berkshire Botanical Gardens, an Atkins Farm gift card, Thunderbirds tickets and more.
Additionally, the auction also offers more elaborate prizes such as an autographed baseball signed Red Sox player Rafael Devers, Red Sox tickets, a vacation to Antigua, a vacation to Barbados, tickets to Wheel of Fortune, an autographed Game of Thrones photo and an autographed Tom Brady jersey display.
Those interested in bidding on any item or becoming a sponsor of the auction can go to https://www.feedthekidsgolf.com for more information or go to the auction directly at https://www.accelevents.com/e/feedthekidsgolf.