March 11, 2009
Scramble will benefit student rehabilitation group
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Think of it as alchemy. You pay Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Student Rehabilitation Association $75. That money turns into a round of golf at Stone Creek’s 18-hole championship course April 16, plus cart fees, lunch and a chance at some prizes. But it doesn’t stop there. Your $75 also becomes a travel subsidy, allowing rehab students to attend professional conferences.
“If we can get 50 people to participate, this has the potential to make more money for the association than we have ever made before, plus it’s a chance to make a big splash in increasing the awareness of disability issues,” said Nicholas J. Cioe, president-elect of the group and the man behind its first-ever golf scramble.
Cioe got the idea and some tips on organizing the event from his mother-in-law, who puts together an annual scramble that underwrites the costs of sending her students to a yearly tournament. The SIUC version begins at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start and concludes with an awards ceremony featuring hors d’oeuvres, prizes for holes-in-one, long drives and pin propinquity. Prizes will include such items as tickets to St. Louis Rams games, casino getaways and gift certificates.
Students who want to play pay only $50, and those who don’t play can still work some magic. For a donation of up $50, their names will appear in a post-scramble advertisement. Gifts between $50 and $100 earn spots in both the ad and a brochure given out the day of the event. For $100, donors may put up a sign at one of 13 tees (five tees have been claimed by press time) in addition to having their names appear in both the ad and brochure. At the $500 level, donors get all that and a round for golf for four.
And all this magic is tax-deductible.
“Just let us know if you need a receipt!” Cioe said.
Registration ends March 27. To do so or learn more, e-mail Cioe at njcioe@gmail.com.