ElderCircle hosted their annual fundraiser, ‘Aces for Elders’, a Jerry and Shirley Miner Memorial Tournament, on Thursday, July 18 at Pokegama Golf Course, with proceeds benefiting ElderCircle’s Assisted Transportation service.
For thousands of rural Minnesotans, transportation remains a major barrier to many services, and for older adults, the challenges can be even more challenging. The good news is that ElderCircle is able to assist Itasca County older adults to overcome some of their transportation barriers, specifically when it comes to accessing medical care and other essential service rides.
ElderCircle’s Assisted Transportation service provides crucial rides to medical and essential appointments which assists older adults who are 60+ and reside in Itasca County. Volunteer drivers are reimbursed the current IRS mileage rate when they provide a ride.
“The challenge that ElderCircle encounters in providing this essential service is, of course, funding,” stated ElderCircle Executive Director Amy Yost. “Aces for Elders’ golf outing helps offset the costs for volunteer driver mileage reimbursement. The amount raised this year helped to provide over 15,000 additional miles of volunteer driver mileage reimbursement. We are so grateful for the turn out.”
“The ability to travel to and from appointments is a freedom that most of us take for granted,” said Yost. “The majority of us can simply slip behind the wheel of our car and drive wherever and whenever we need to. However, for a growing number of older adults, once-routine outings now present daily challenges, so we must find other transportation options for getting to and from our much-needed appointments. “Aces for Elders’ is a fun way to help our older adults while having fun on the golf course,” said Yost.
ElderCircle is in urgent need of more volunteer drivers. If you have an hour or two each month, that is all it takes. You as a volunteer, choose when it works for your schedule. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer please call, 218-999-9233 or email ecircle@eldercircle.org.
They are also excited to announce that during the 2024 golf fundraiser, they had two hole-in-one winners. First on hole number 18, Dan Fiala of Fiala Financial, made a hole-in-one to win $25,000. Moments after, Renee Bymark, tournament director, made it to hole 18, she received a call from hole number 15, with a second hole-in one. This time it was Jake Bischoff who won $10,000 for his hole-in-one.
“Aces for Elders’ gets its unique name for offering a significant cash prize for any hole-in-one during the outing—golfers can win a whopping $25,000 for a hole-in-one at hole 18, and $10,000 cash on holes 10-17. All holes are set to 135 yards. So everyone has a chance. We also have prizes for closest to the pin on every hole. We gave away an additional $3,500 closest to the pin prizes,” stated Bymark.
ElderCircle would like to thank its sponsors of the 2024 ‘Aces for Elders’ which include, Park State Bank, SuperOne Grocery, Itasca Reliable Insurance, Patti & Steve Rutt, NorthShore Mortgage, Providence Financial, Fiala Financial, The Pillars of Grand Rapids, Blaze Credit Union, The Emeralds of Grand Rapids, Grant Itasca Clinic and Hospital Fairview, and the Grand Rapids Herald Review. We also received donations from many community businesses which included Lakewood Lodge, Paul Bunyan, Timberlake Lodge, Mr. Furnace, Northland Portables, Acheson Tire, Grand Rapids State Bank, S&S Meats, L&M Fleet Supply, MinuteMan Press, Northern Star Co-op, Culvers, and CarQuest. This event could not be successful without the support of these generous supporters.
For more information or to get on next year’s list, contact Amy Yost at ElderCircle at 218-999- 9233 x276 or ayost@eldercircle.org.
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