durhamregion.com The Citizen September 20, 2013 7 Brooklin group raises thousands for local cancer centre Parvaneh Pessian ppessian@durhamregion.com WHITBY -- It started out as a fun way to get some people together for a good cause. A group of friends who grew up together in Durham and stayed in touch through local men's leagues playing baseball and hockey launched a golf tournament fundraiser after one of their mothers was diagnosed with cancer. Five years later, the good deed has generated more than $50,000 for the R.S. McLaughlin Durham Regional Cancer Centre at Lakeridge Health Oshawa. "It's basically just grown from word of mouth through our own contacts," says Wes Houston, a Brooklin resident and one of the core organizers behind the Wolfpack. "We started five years ago with 72 golfers and raised just over $3,000, the next year we doubled to $7,000 and the next year we grew to $8,000." Last year, the event was sold out and the team managed to raise more than $12,000 with the help of corporate sponsors and donations from family and friends. "This year we just sent an e-mail out to everyone that was there last year saying 'Who wants to come back?' And the tournament was sold out in a week," says Mr. Houston. The fifth annual tournament, held on Sept. 14 at Colombus Golf and Country Club in Oshawa, attracted 144 golfers. The event was followed by a reception at Shoeless Joe's restaurant in Brooklin, where additional funds were raised through a silent auction and other activities. Each day, more than 500 people receive treatment in the Cancer Centre at the Oshawa hospital, which opened in 2007. Initially, proceeds from the golf tournament were directed to the Canadian Cancer Society but organizers decided to localize the funds in order to make a big- ger impact. "We decided to donate the money at a local level opposed to the cancer society because we felt the (cancer centre) really hit home for members of the community that were attending," explains Mr. Houston. The members of Wolfpack plan to con- tinue holding the fundraiser as long as there's interest from the community to participate, adds Mr. Houston. "Everyone is there to have a good time and I think it just feels good to give something back and have fun doing it, so it's a win-win for everybody." WHITBY -- Members of community group Wolfpack, including Kevin Hall, Peter Casey, Tawfiq Dahdah, Wes Houston and Ryan Mitchell have raised more than $50,000 over the past five years through their annual golf tournament for the cancer centre at Lakeridge Health Oshawa. submitted Photo