OAKVILLE — It was a sunny day on the green for over 120 golfers last week, all hitting the links for charity.
The Air Canada YellowBird Charity Golf Classic tournament, which took place May 19 at Glen Abbey Golf Course in Oakville, ON, was a huge success, with travel industry partners participating and raising funds for children impacted by the war in Ukraine. Money raised from Friday’s event went towards the care of 380 orphans living in Ukraine’s Mercy of St. Nicholas Orphanage Care Centre.
Back to its pre-pandemic size and format, the tournament, which this year was organized by Reps4Rent, also included an Online Silent Auction featuring over 40 incredible items available for bidding, from hotel stays and a seven-day cruise, to roundtrip air tickets and a Kenyan safari. This year’s sponsors included Air Canada, MSC Cruises, TravelBrands, Manulife, Softvoyage, Globus family of brands and many more.
“We could not have had a better day of fun and golf, with perfect weather, cloudless skies and so many of our friends and partners coming out in the name of charity,” says Devin Kinasz, publisher of Travelweek. “Thank you to all who participated, made bids and donated items and, of course, to Reps4Rent and all our amazing sponsors whose support was invaluable. Coming together in person, meeting new friends and seeing those we haven’t seen in a while was incredibly special.”
Started in 2003, the YellowBird Foundation was created by travel industry executives who envisioned giving back to communities and destinations where they serve and send passengers. Since inception, the Foundation has raised over half a million dollars and completed approximately 15 projects, most recently, the rebuilding of a school in Turks & Caicos following Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2019. Other notable projects, all of which have been funded by money raised from the annual YellowBird golf tournament, include the installation of solar panels in Jamaica school, transporting young cancer patients to Toronto to receive life-saving treatment at SickKids hospital, and the Goat Dairy Project in Grenada, which supports and empowers local farmers.
