Over 130 golfers helped raise over $12,000 for 630 CHED Santas Anonymous at the 24th annual Gary Draeger Memorial Tournament on Friday.
The event honours Draeger, a long time “head elf” at Santas.
“This tournament means so much to a lot of people,” executive director Lana Nordlund said. “Not only is it a great time to get together during the off-season, but having it named after Gary really hits home for a lot of our long-time supporters.”
Gary was an employee at 630 CHED and ran Santas for many years. When he passed away, the charity decided to re-name the tournament after him.
While it may seem odd to raise money for a Christmas charity in June, the crew at Santas doesn’t stop working all year round.
“We’re like any other business, we have bills to pay outside of the season,” Nordlund said. “I’m already starting to purchase toys now, for what I anticipate we’re going to run out of.”
A final total is expected over the weekend.
630 CHED Santas Anonymous collects and distributes toys to kids across Edmonton, who may not otherwise have a Christmas. Last year over 25,000 kids were helped by the charity.