24th annual ‘Party with a Purpose’ held in Bridgeport

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. (WBOY) — One hundred and ninety-six golfers came out to the Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport on Monday, all with the goal of raising money for underprivileged kids in north central West Virginia.

Medbrook Children’s Charity held its “Party with a Purpose” and Children’s Charity Golf Classic on Monday. According to President Dr. Kelly Nelson, this is the 24th year that the event has taken place. He said that after starting out as a “boring, old golf tournament,” the event has now become an outdoor party since golf tournaments are “a dime a dozen.”

“Today is gonna be a giant outdoor party,” President Dr. Kelly Nelson said. “It’s the community coming together celebrating ’cause we’re gonna raise a lot of money for kids in need in our own backyard.”

Nelson said that the 196 golfers who attended made quite a statement considering the inclement weather and showed that “this community cares about this community.”

Some of the activities at the event included acrobats on the seventh hole as well as axe throwing, roulette, blackjack and hit the target. However, what Nelson said is most unique about this year’s event is the “generational flip” that they’re seeing with the people who helped put it together.

“It’s now [our] children that are sponsors and starting their own businesses and being involved,” he stated. “So the generational flip going on [in] this charity, both on the board and on the participants, it’s palpable. It tells you there’s great things coming in West Virginia.”

Nelson told 12 News that the event’s fundraising goal for this year was “as much as humanly possible.” He said that while the organization’s goal was to raise upwards of $150,000, once that amount was reached, he wasn’t going to stop counting.

This event wrapped up at 5 p.m., around which time Nelson said that participants could go inside to discuss the purpose behind the event. During this time, an auction was held to raise additional funds for the children in need.

“We live in a great area, there’s need in our backyard,” Nelson added. “It’s incumbent upon us to take care of those kids. No kid is responsible for their own problems. They didn’t cause it, we gotta fix it. It does take a community.”

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