The 11th annual travelbrands Charity Golf Classic brought the travel industry together at Eagles Nest Golf Club yesterday, raising $644,069 for SickKids Foundation and the Labatt Family Heart Centre – surpassing last year’s total.

The annual tournament welcomed travel advisors, suppliers, partners and competitors for a full day of golf, networking and fundraising, followed by an evening dinner and presentation celebrating the industry’s support for SickKids.

The latest result adds to more than $3 million already raised for SickKids through travelbrands’ charitable efforts. And according to CEO Nathalie Tanious, the company has no plans to slow down.

“So far, we’ve done $3 million. And in the next five years, we want to do at least another $3 million, and we’re constantly pushing that envelope,” said Tanious.

For Tanious, one of the defining features of the golf tournament is its ability to bring all corners of the travel business together.

“What’s great about it is that our competitors, our friends, our partners – everyone’s here today, and it doesn’t matter who you are or what you do,” she said. “On this day, it’s all about the kids.”

The tournament included breakfast and a day on the course at Eagles Nest, along with fundraising initiatives including a silent auction featuring donated prizes. This year also marked the launch of travelbrands’ new SickKids Holiday Toy Drive for children spending the holiday season in hospital.

The golf tournament may be the company’s marquee fundraising event, but Tanious stressed that travelbrands’ work with SickKids continues throughout the year.

“We always want to make sure people are aware that throughout the year we are still partnering with SickKids in different ways, with different initiatives,” she said.

Those initiatives include the annual SickKids Day, when travelbrands donates 1% of the day’s sales to SickKids, as well as its employee walk, which this year took place simultaneously in Toronto and Montreal and included members of the travel industry.

The new toy drive will further broaden that involvement, with travelbrands collecting new toys at its office and BDMs working with travel advisors to pick up donations at agencies.

“We’re really proud to have that going as just another way that people can get more and more involved,” said Tanious, adding that the goal is to open the initiative to the wider industry “so that the travel industry can continue to work together to do more for this important cause.”

Broadcaster Devo Brown served as emcee for the evening portion of the tournament and summed up the impact of the industry’s participation simply: “You are helping save lives.”

With $644,069 raised in a single day, a new record over last year’s result and another $3 million fundraising goal ahead, travelbrands’ annual golf tournament once again showed what can happen when the travel industry trades competition for collaboration.

Source: Travelweek
Lead image caption: Nathalie Tanious, CEO, travelbrands and her team along with SickKids Foundation partners mark this year’s record total raised: $644,069