2026.09.21 Londoner

The Y Fore Kids team with the million Dollar cheque at Sunningdale Golf & Country Club on September 15 in London. The group raised more than a million dollars to help area kids attend a YMCA summer camp. SHOBHITA SHARMA/LONDONER/QMI AGENCY

A million dollars for a million smiles

By Shobhita Sharma Londoner

Shobhita Sharma

Londoner

Y Fore Kids Golf Tournament tee'd off nine years ago with the mission to create a perpetual fund to help less fortunate kids enjoy a YMCA summer camp.

On September 15, the group surpassed their goal of collecting a million dollars for that endowment fund.

"One of the great things the YMCA does is to send kids to camp and we recognized that there was an opportunity to serve there," said Y Fore Kids chair, Ed Holder. "We decided to work towards creating a gift that keeps on giving."

Y Fore Kids is a group made up of volunteers from the community and area businesses and has been raising money through an annual golf tournament and silent auction.

The YMCA of Western Ontario sends kids from the area to Camp Queen Elizabeth located in the scenic Georgian Bay area where children engage in various activities and develop life skills.

"Kids go (to camp) for a couple of weeks and come back withstories about life changes and life experiences," said YMCA of Western Ontario CEO Shaun Elliott.

Elliot said about 1000 kids from London and the surrounding area attend Camp Queen Elizabeth each year and about 17 per cent are able to attend only with the help of financial assistance from the Y.

The average cost for a two-week stay at Camp Queen Elizabeth is over $1200, which is beyond a number of people's means, Elliot said. "The earnings from the $1 million will help kids go to camp."

London and area businesses have been generous partners in the cause ever since Y Fore Kids held it's first golf tournament and this year was no exception. Over 300 businesses contributed to the endowment fund in 2011.

Holder thanked title sponsors Stevenson & Hunt, TD Canada Trust and Hilton London Ontario for supporting the charity.

"They've given us time, talent and treasure," Holder said.

This year, $225,000 was raised at the tournament, driving the sum total to over a million Dollars.