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Morton Business Backs Golf for Cause
Company of 10 Helps Revitalize Annual Golf Classic
By Steve Tarter of the Peoria Journal Star
MORTON - With major corporations like Kellogg’s Cereals, American Airlines and Johnson & Johnson endorsing the Race for the Cure nationally, it might come as a surprise that Business Communication Systems in Morton, a company of 10 employees, is the major corporate sponsor for the Komen Peoria Race for the Cure Golf Classic. But the golf tournament has grown under BCS sponsorship. This is the second year the company has taken on the fund-raising classic along with the Morton firm’s major supplier, HP/Compaq Computer Corp.
In fact, the tourney planned for the Quail Meadows Golf Course in Washington is doing so well that the field filled up in less than two weeks, said co-chairwoman Leslie Vogel, a BCS support specialist. "We had 144 golfers last year. It must have gone well because this year, we signed up the same number after about 10 days," she said.
Vogel and co-chairwoman Shelley Chouinard, a project engineer at Caterpillar Inc., get the credit for revitalizing the tournament, now in its fifth year, when the pair took over last year. "Last year, they really turned it around with the corporate sponsorship. They’ve done a remarkable job," said Jo Huber, owner of the Balda Driving School in Peoria Heights and a Race for the Cure co-chairwoman in 2001.
How do you get a small company to come up with the $10,000 sponsorship fee? "Our boss (CEO Damien Lee VanBrooker) has a wife and two daughters. He knows the importance of what Race for the Cure does," Vogel said. "Our controller Debbie Perry helped sell it to Van. We told him what a great opportunity for exposure it was for the company," she said. After last year’s success, it didn’t take a sales job to convince the boss this year, said Vogel.
Once they worked out the backing, Vogel and Chouinard then faced the challenge of putting the tournament on. "We don’t have any experience running a golf event, so we just did it," Vogel said. What Vogel and Chouinard did was knock on the doors of area businesses to promote the tournament. Contingents from Papa John’s Pizza, Associated Bank, E.W. McDaniels and MTCO were among area firms to sign on. Among the new wrinkles this year are some new prize possibilities for participants. A hole-in-one will mean winning a car from Bob Grimm Buick in Morton, Vogel said.
Chouinard expects the golf classic to bring in $14,000, just as it did last year. But she’s not discounting the possibility of growth in the future. "From the Komen perspective, growth means making more money for Race for the Cure. We’ve talked about having a same-day event on two courses. We’ve also met with other (golf tournament) organizers about getting more than 144 players onto the course," she said. But growth would also mean additional administrative work, both women realize.
Along with sponsoring the tournament, Business Communication Systems employees also are on hand during the tournament, manning registration tables, handing out prizes and, in general, doing whatever needs to be done, said Vogel. Yet they have a hard time looking at it as work, she said. "It’s great to be involved with the number-one charity event in the area. It’s gratifying to see all the people there," said Vogel.
Race for the Cure golfers tee off on Friday, kicking off a series of events during the week that precedes the May 11 race. "It’s a great event because you know (when you’re playing golf) that the race is getting close," said Huber, a participant in the race golf tournament every year since its inception.
Susan G. Komen Memorial Affiliate of Peoria
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